Ganon leaned against the wall of his cell, his arms crossed over his chest. The rusted chains of the wooden bunk attached to the wall had broken under his weight, so he sat on the floor. He stared straight ahead, his mind blank.
He had torn the wooden door of the small room off its hinges. The passageway beyond was dimly lit. There were no other prisoners and no guards. After he attacked the soldiers who had come with food, he had been left alone. The torch fires remained lit, but eventually they would burn to ash, leaving him in complete darkness.
Ganon felt a strange sense of quietude. When he was first deposited here, he had made it clear that his imprisonment would be on his own terms. He had broken his manacles in half and twisted them around of the throat of the man who clasped them over his wrists. Indignity he could bear, but only so far and no farther.
He had been trained throughout adolescence to let no emotion appear on his face, his mothers pinching at him with their ice and fire at the first signs of agitation. This conditioning had served him well as he was brought into the castle under the cover of night. Outwardly he bore the shame stoically, but he had seethed with fury.
Now he dozed and lost himself in thought, hardly moving. The dungeons had a bizarre effect on his magic, amplifying it beyond his ability to control. He had tried to start a small fire, and the echoes of his voice sent a conflagration raging down the stone corridor. His attempt to bring a breeze into his cell had become a tempest strong enough to rattle the stones in the walls. When his temper flared, the very ground trembled with his anger. He could do nothing but sit perfectly still. Passivity suited him poorly, but he was unable to summon the momentum to move.
To make matters worse, he was haunted by the same voice that had invaded his thoughts during his earlier visit to the castle. As he was brought over the drawbridge spanning the moat it resumed its litany as if he had never left, taunting him in his humiliation.
He had gradually come to identify the voice as his own. The realization had crept up on him like a winter sunset, leaving him chilled to his core.
The magic of the castle was old and deep, and he felt it all around him, an almost tangible sensation that was rough and slimy like moldering sand against his skin. He wondered if this was how the princess had felt in his desert city, which was, after all, just as ancient as her own stronghold. He thought of the warmth of her mellow laughter and the brightness of her smiling eyes. If she had suffered, she had hidden it well. The more he thought of her, each memory as clear and smooth as if preserved in amber, the more he admitted that there was a part of him that would be content to remain in this tiny cell for as long as it took.
He could wait for her to come to him forever.
It's always the princess, in the end.
Ganon took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
You had so many opportunities to do away with her, yet you took advantage of none of them. How pathetic.
A faint glimmer shifted just outside of the cell's empty doorframe. Ganon blinked, but it did not fade.
She always lays some sort of trap, doesn't she? Always so devious, always so manipulative. This time you walked right into her snare, despite knowing from the start that she wasn't to be trusted. How stupid can you get?
Ganon felt a stab of annoyance but suppressed his irritation. The voice continued.
At least the novelty of this scenario is refreshing, I must say. She's got you right where she wants you, caught by your foolish cock right in her rotten little cunt.
"Enough!" Ganon snapped. "Show yourself!" he roared, slamming his fist against the floor.
I thought you'd never ask.
The hazy glimmer in the door resolved itself into a man so tall that even the high ceiling seemed almost unable to contain him. His black armor gleamed dully in the torchlight. Ganon unfolded his legs and stood. He had never looked up at another person, but the man's amber eyes were above even his own. The apparition sneered at him with his own lips under the curve of his own nose.
"Who are you?"
You know the answer to that already, Ganondorf Dragmire.
"Explain."
The man laughed, and his form flickered. Short hair, long hair, bearded, face veiled, armed, unarmed, in Gerudo dress, in Hylian costume, stretching back and back and back.
The history of this land is written in the blood of our people, and so has it ever been. You yourself have died in this castle countless times, always at the hands of that infernal woman. Have you forgotten the sting of her betrayal?
A searing pain struck Ganon's ribcage. He staggered backwards and gasped for breath.
She never thinks twice when she shoots you, and she smiles as the hero pierces your heart with his sword. Sometimes she even performs the honor herself.
Ganon braced himself against the wall of his cell, forcing the anguish to recede through the strength of his will. He would not allow this phantom to master him.
Your death at her hands is hardly the worst of it. Even more maddening is the imprisonment wrought by her vile magic, leaving you bloodless and alone. When you think of her touch, do you remember the unrelenting sting of the seal she put on you?
A massive stake of icy burning thrust itself just above Ganon's eyes, driving him to his knees. He clutched his head and screamed. The earth shook around him, but he was not aware of it. The pain was everything.
Ganon managed to raise his face. He flung out his arm, and one of his swords appeared in his sweating fist.
The man in front of him clapped as his face pulled into a sardonic smile.
That's the spirit.
Ganon's pain faded. In his first shuddering breaths he could taste ozone and brimstone.
You're the only one to blame for this situation, but you can still turn it to your advantage. You cling to your humanity as though you clutch at a raft, though the ocean is yours to command. Do not degrade your divinity by remaining in this place.
"I bear the Triforce, but I am no god," Ganon panted.
How long have you sat on the floor of your cell with not a morsel of food nor a drop of water passing your lips, rousing yourself only to stain your robe with your seed, spilled in the service of the very woman who holds you captive?
"I trust her."
I ask you again – how many days has it been?
"I will not move against her."
And yet she will not move to help you.
"She will not betray me."
There is no need for her to betray you when you have so conveniently betrayed yourself. You serve her best as a prisoner, and so a prisoner you will remain. She held your life in her hands when you rode with her, and still you chose to follow her, leashed like a beast to its master.
Ganon somehow found the strength to lift his shoulders. He stared into the apparition's glowing eyes.
"She fascinated me, and she fascinates me still. Will you say she did not fascinate you? You tell me you were trapped by her, but was your fate not of your own making? Surely you have loved her across your many lives, even as I love her now."
The phantom threw back its head and laughed, but there was no joy in its voice. The fire of the torches in the corridor flickered and dimmed.
You speak of love, but there is no love in that woman's heart. She is as cold as the moon and as sterile as the sand. She will forever be the sword at your throat. When you finally see her real face, you will understand how little she truly cares for you.
Ganon held his own gaze. "Your words are those of a coward."
His image smirked in response.
So you say now, and you may think it brave to smile as your blood pours into her hands, but do not for a moment assume she will stop with you. Consider your precious city. It is lowly and tarnished now, but it was not always so. Our people were once proud, our civilization mighty. We have fallen, but we can fall still lower, always lower, ever under the condemnation of that woman and her gods. Do you intend to barter the screams of our sisters for a drink of the poison that spews from her mouth?
Ganon shook his head and lowered himself to the floor. He moved carefully, his pain still fresh in his body.
"Be gone from me. I have no patience for this."
The floor began to vibrate. Ganon closed his eyes and willed himself to remain calm. When he opened his eyes, the earth had stilled and the man was gone.
He understood he had only been talking to himself, his deepest fears made manifest, a projection triggered by the magic of the castle. He knew little of who he may have been before being born into this era, but he had caught snatches of memories while reading of the past. Fragments of images had showered over him like broken glass during the days he had spent with Zelda, each more painful than the last. He realized what she must have once been to him, yet he was still drawn to her eyes, the shine of the sun on her hair, the taste of her lips in the night. He knew what the desert sand had once been, and what it still could be; he knew that his tribe could not rise unless hers fell.
If only he could talk to her, and touch her again...
The gloom intensified, and he settled back into a stupor. He felt the weight of history dragging behind him, and he could not step forward. The castle hung above his head.
Minutes passed. Hours passed. Days passed. Years passed. Decades passed. Time divided in on itself and lost all meaning.
He heard the faint shift of grit along the corridor. He lifted his head, and his face twisted into a rictus of a smile. He pitied the soldier who had been sent down to him.
Another step in the corridor, and another. He could not hear the clank of metal. Not a guard, then. Another step and then, to his surprise, an awkward humming. The tone was familiar, and the pitch was true. The Triforce on the back of his hand glowed.
Ganon waited until the footsteps drew closer before standing.
"So a hero has finally come to challenge me," he said, stepping out of his cell.
Standing alone in the hallway was a small boy in a filthy tunic that might have once been green.
"Link?"
"No!" Link shouted, drawing his sword. "I'm not supposed to meet you yet!"
The sight of a blade in the boy's hand was disconcerting.
Ganon shook his head. "What are you doing here?"
"I..." The sword trembled, and Link almost dropped it. "I will defeat you!"
Link charged at him, screaming. He stepped aside as Link swung his sword. The boy lost his balance and tripped. Ganon caught him by the back of his tunic.
"Careful, kid."
Link spun around, flinging the blade towards Ganon, who dodged it and pushed him away.
Link screamed again and, with an almost inhuman swiftness, leapt high into the air, flashing his sword in an expertly angled arc. Ganon grabbed his wrist and slammed him down onto the floor. The boy sprang up and, anticipating Ganon's movement, thrust his blade upwards. In a split second of shifted weight, Ganon found the sword emerging from the sash tied at his waist. Blood seeped from the wound, darkening the fabric, but there was no pain, only a vague feeling of warmth.
Link fell back, utterly aghast.
Ganon pulled the blade from his stomach, and the Triforce on his hand pulsed. He threw the sword down the corridor behind him and then regarded Link. Where could the child have learned to fight?
"I have to defeat you," Link stammered.
Ganon shot forward and grabbed Link's arm, lifting him. The mark of the Triforce shone from the boy's left hand.
"It can't be," Ganon muttered. "You're only a child..."
Link kicked at him weakly as tears gathered in his eyes.
"I have to kill you and save the princess," he said, tears running down his face.
Ganon sat the boy on his feet, knelt down, and hugged him.
"It's okay. You don't have to kill anyone. We'll go to the princess together."
Link began sobbing. Ganon patted his head as he cried. What could the gods have been thinking, sending a child to fight him?
The wound in his stomach tingled uncomfortably.
You will regret sparing his life. This one will turn on you, just like the others.
"What was that?" Link jerked back, startled.
"Our cue to get out of here," Ganon answered, standing. "Fetch your sword."
Ganon examined the wound at his waist. It had stopped bleeding and was already starting to heal. He had always recovered quickly, but this was unnatural. He was filled with a sense of foreboding.
As Link retrieved his sword, Ganon saw that the boy was limping. He hadn't noticed it in the dim firelight, but a terrible gash ran down one of his calves, and his boot was barely clinging to his leg. If he didn't receive treatment soon, the raw wound would fester.
"Come here," Ganon ordered.
Link walked over to him, wiping the snot from his face with the back of his hand. Ganon swung him up and sat him on his shoulders.
"You smell like wet dirt," Link said.
"You smell like a wet horse," Ganon grunted as he set out down the corridor. "When was the last time you bathed?"
"What are you doing here?" Link asked.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here? Why shouldn't I be here?"
"Everyone says you're leading the Gerudo in the war against Hyrule."
"There's a war?" Ganon's anger rose in his throat. Of course. The logic behind his imprisonment was suddenly crystal clear. How had he allowed himself to be lulled into complacency, thinking that he was aiding the princess? What scheme had he fallen prey to? Why else would she have ridden with him to Lake Hylia, why else than to entrap him?
The walls of the passageway began to shake, pebbles of mortar falling from the ceiling.
"Ow!" Link yelled, squirming as he batted away a fragment of stone.
Ganon stopped in his tracks and forced himself to take slow and even breaths.
"You've been causing all the earthquakes," Link said simply.
"Yes."
"A whole section of the city burned."
"Good."
"Did you make the clouds and wind and lightning too?"
"Probably."
"Are you really evil?"
"Evil is relative."
"What does that mean?"
"Listen, kid, what are you doing in the dungeons? The princess obviously isn't here." He tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
"I got lost."
"I imagine you did. Can you tell me how you got here?"
"No, dummy. If I remembered I wouldn't be lost."
The spell to trace the boy's path was easy enough, but he didn't trust himself to cast it. He'd have to leave the magic up to Link.
"Do you know any songs?"
"Any songs?"
"Right, songs. The kind you sing, you little twerp."
"No one ever taught me anything."
Ganon shook his head. How could a bearer of the Triforce not know any songs? He had probably been discouraged from singing once people realized that unusual things had a tendency to happen when he did. The Hylians were a ridiculous people, clinging to their silly superstitions. He would never understand why magic was so feared in Hyrule.
"Anything is fine."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"Okay..."
Link sniffed a few times and began singing, his tone uncertain.
A big old Goron
Fell from the mountain
Rolled down the hill
The earth did shake
He said to himself
I'm sick of the heat
Let's off to see
The deep green lake
Look at his hands
And his great flat feet
And the rock hard stones
Upon his back
Never was there
Such a fine-tailed spin
To set him up
Out on his track
Ganon smiled. Once the boy began to sing, his voice became clear, with perfect rhythm and pitch. He began to sense the trail of Link's presence, and he followed it through the stone halls, humming in harmony.
A small slim Zora
Leapt from the river
Skimmed down the banks
All slick and sleek
She said to herself
I'm sick of the wet
Let's off to see
The highest peak
Look at her fins
And her sharp blue scales
And the way that her face
Curves with the stream
Never was there
Such a swifting stroke
To launch her up
Out on her dream
Here at the crossroads
Stood the old Goron
Scratched his head
He'd been lost all day
The Zora came up
I must say, good sir
You've need of a friend
To go on your way
Where leads your road
My fine lady fair
With gills like those
You can't have come far
The Zora made well
She'd enough of the dust
So she sent them walking
Straight for the bar
Then the drinking did begin
The cups spilled down onto the floor
The Zora said
I've got you beat
The Goron said
Those words mean war
Cheers to the snow
And cheers to the woods
And cheers to the sand
That blows from the west
Cheers to the castle
That sits on the plains
Cheers to two more cups
Of Hyrule's best
Two familiar voices joined the song from farther ahead in the passage.
See the mountain
Rise from floor
Of all the bottles
And the kegs we've climbed
We've drank down a lake
We've sunk the depths
Of beer and whiskey
And good friends' wine
Orris and Amaranth cheered at the end of the song, waving with exaggerated gestures.
Fancy meeting you here, Orris hailed him. You smell disgusting.
A small girl with a chipped garnet heartstone affixed to her forehead peeked out at him from behind Amaranth.
Who is this? Ganon asked, raising an eyebrow.
She wanted to help us rescue you, Amaranth said, smiling.
"Nabooru!" Link kicked away from Ganon and jumped to the ground. "I lost your firegear," he said, bowing his head.
We came through the castle sewers to get here, Orris explained, but the passage is blocked off now. There was an earthquake. She coughed. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?
Don't blame me for everything that happens in this rotten place, he grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
As you wish, great leader, Orris sighed. We can't get out the way we came, and I'm not about to try to sneak through the castle. What do you propose we do?
"What are they talking about?" Link asked Nabooru.
"I think they're trying to figure out how to leave," she whispered.
"Oh!" Link exclaimed, rummaging around in his small bag. "I found a map in the sewer."
"You could have mentioned that earlier," Ganon groused as Link handed him a thick scroll of leathery parchment.
Link shrugged. "I couldn't read it."
Ganon unrolled the map. It was almost incomprehensibly complicated, but patterns began to emerge as he scanned his eyes across it. Orris walked to his side. He traced his finger over the faded ink.
"Here," he said, tapping a small square on one of the upper levels. "I think there's another way out. Whatever this is, it's close to the castle's eastern wall, where the moat is shallow. First we need to get aboveground, then we'll find a way into the city. Follow me."
The door was sealed with an elaborate system of locks. Ganon ran his hands across them, taking a quick inventory of the magic binding them. Some of it was very old. It would take hours to untangle the knots of spellwork, which could no doubt be undone by means of an intricate system of enchanted keys hidden within the winding passages of the dungeon.
Orris let out an exasperated breath. "Great Din. What are we going to do about this mess?"
Ganon kicked the door. It shook but held firm. He kicked it harder, and its magic shimmered.
He was losing his patience. He kicked it again at its hinges and then reared back before striking it with his open palm, which he followed with a blow from the side of his fist.
The door crashed open.
Ganon cracked his knuckles.
He stepped over the threshold into a large space that could very well have been a prototype model of the castle throne room. The high vaulted ceiling was supported by stark columns partially embedded within the walls. Narrow windows adorned the bays between arches, but the day was almost over, and the light cast onto the smooth marble floor was golden with the setting sun. At one end of the room was an enormous wooden door that seemed as if it hadn't been opened in years. At the other end of the room was an altar. After being confined underground for so long, Ganon felt his head reel from the openness.
Orris pushed past him as she walked into the room, followed by Amaranth. Nabooru and Link trailed behind them.
"What is this place?" Nabooru whispered.
"It looks like some kind of temple," Amaranth answered as she headed toward the altar.
I don't think we're that far from the castle, Orris said to Ganon. I would tell you that you have another door to break down, but I'm afraid of drawing unwanted attention.
Ganon didn't respond. Everything about this place was uncanny. He had mentally constructed a map of their progress underground, and he agreed with Orris. Why would such a magnificent temple in such close proximity to the castle be so empty? There were no signs of human prescence, and yet everything was spotlessly clean. No dust motes hung in the beams of light falling through the windows, and the floor was so polished that he could see the faint outline of his reflection at his feet. A cacophony of magic crossed through the building, scratching at the edges of his senses like a muted chorus of discordant voices.
Link trotted over to Amaranth, and the two of the examined the empty altar together.
Nabooru joined Orris at the door. When the girl pressed her hand to its surface, six glowing glyphs jumped from the grain of the wood. Even from far away, Ganon could distinguish the symbols that stood for the six tribes of Hyrule. Nabooru withdrew her hand, and the glyphs slowly faded, the dragonfly eyes of the Gerudo's symbol lingering in the air.
Ganon's sense of wrongness intensified, and he felt a flare of pain from beneath the heartstone at his forehead. The floor of the temple seemed to drop away, and for a moment he saw himself floating above a black void spiraling down into the earth. The smell of rotting bones and gore-spattered metal filled his nose, and it took all of his self-control not to gag.
This temple had been built over the ashes of the mass grave of a battlefield. Underneath the spotless floor, layers of death were piled on top of one another.
"We need to leave this place immediately," he said, his voice shattering the stillness.
"Nabooru, move away from the door. Link, don't touch the altar. I'm going to force a way through. Amaranth, Orris. Protect the children."
Ganon walked to the door, screams and battle cries echoing in his ears with every step. Orris and Amaranth seemed confused by his curtness, but both Link and Nabooru looked acutely uncomfortable. Was he the only one affected by the terrible palimpsest of this unholy temple, or could the boy and the girl sense it as well? It was of no matter; he had had enough of the castle's magic, and he would allow no door to bar his progress back into the open air.
He slammed his palm against the door, and the six glyphs sprang into relief in a broad circle around his hand. He felt the threads of their power twist around his wrist, and he sliced through them with his will. The magic sealing the door was strong, but he was stronger.
The Triforce mark on the back of his hand began to glow and was answered by a Triforce that appeared in the center of the glyphs. The wings of the eagle of the Hylian royal crest spread from the mark, and he ripped them away in a blunt refusal of their authority. They could not shield the Triforce from its rightful bearer.
Ganon felt the magic yield to him with little more than a sigh of protest. He stepped back to allow the door to swing open.
Standing before him was a Sheikah, a set of blades in each outstretched hand.
Ganon's reflexes were swift, but he was almost unable to evade the Sheikah's assault. As his assailant dashed forward, Ganon realized that he was facing an older man. He would be able to overpower him if he could get close enough, but he doubted he would be allowed an opening.
The Sheikah threw a dagger at him, and Ganon plucked it from the air a moment before the sting of a spell sliced his cheek. Of course the man would use magic – the knives were merely a distraction. There was no need to fight honorably.
Ganon sent a jagged bolt of pure energy at the Sheikah. The man's robes burst into flames and collapsed onto the ground as three more figures sprang from the pile of burning fabric. Ganon sent slicing jets of wind at them, and they too fell.
The temple became deathly quiet. Ganon scanned the sanctuary but could sense nothing out of place. He looked toward his companions only to see the blade of an impossibly long sword protruding from his chest. As when Link had stabbed him, he felt only a faintly ticklish warmth from the wound, and as he spun around he was struck by the certainty that he could not truly be harmed by such injuries.
The blade vanished as he grabbed it, and the Sheikah flew back, sending thin beams of magic at him. Ganon deflected them with a wave of his hand, catching the blade of another dagger through his palm. He wrenched the knife from his flesh as he invoked the spell that would allow him to see the contrails of the Sheikah's magic. Once the patterns of the man's movements were visible, Ganon knew exactly what to do. He dashed to the next point of apparition and slid the Sheikah's knife across his throat just as he materialized. Hot blood spurted in a crescent across the marble floor.
"Cease this at once!"
Ganon looked up to see Zelda framed in the temple doorway. She strode toward him, her bow raised and an arrow already notched.
"I will not allow you to hurt him!" she commanded.
He had never seen her like this. Even in the failing light her armor shone, and her face was a mask of divine righteousness, glorious and beautiful. Her Triforce beamed from the hand holding the arrow aimed directly at him.
She took a step forward, and at the same time Link yelled and charged toward him, his small sword drawn and raised above his head by a hand that glittered with the radiance of his own Triforce.
Ganon's heart shattered as time slowed to a crawl. This had happened before, over and over and over again. How many times had he stood in this very place, struck down by these very people? He felt so old, and he was so tired. How could he have thought for a moment that anything would be different between them?
Do not admit defeat just yet, his own voice spoke to him, as smooth and salacious as silk. Lay claim to the power within you.
No, Ganon whispered, even as energy surged through his body, begging for release.
"This ends now," another voice said in his ear. The Sheikah was suddenly behind him, stabbing his final dagger into his throat before whipping around him to sweep up Link. He spun the boy around to shield himself from the arrow that Zelda had sent flying. The shaft slipped into Link's chest as his sword dropped to the floor, clanging against the marble.
"Impa, to me!" Zelda roared, and like a wisp of smoke the woman appeared behind the Sheikah, impaling him with her daggers as Zelda shot at him once again. This time her arrow hit its mark. Impa wrested Link from the man's hands and sprinted across the floor to Amaranth, who held her twin swords in front of her. The Sheikah collapsed as silently as a falling feather, his blood seeping from his corpse.
I am not your enemy! We must take cover, sister, Impa said in Gerudo. This fight belongs to the princess now. She passed Link's body to Orris and pivoted as she pulled another set of knives from her jacket.
Ganon saw none of this. His mind was engulfed by a fury so frantic and overwhelming that it was impossible to resist. Zelda had killed an innocent child before his eyes, and he had been able to do nothing to stop her. How much blood must be spilled before she was satisfied?
The boy was dead, and soon he would be dead as well. Hyrule was hungry, a slavering monster growing bloated as it consumed the land. Where would it find the coal to feed its engines? Where would it find the wood to lie under its rails? Where would it find the human bodies to chain to its factories? After he died, the kingdom of Hyrule would only become more formidable, expanding ever outward, east into the mountains, south into the forest, and west into the desert. The blight that had tainted the water of Lake Hylia would continue to spread, and he could not stop it. The queen-to-be would not be denied the victory that would herald the beginning of her reign.
Do you still cling to your weakness? The voice was everywhere, permeating every corner of his consciousness. Do you still deny your godhood? Do you still refuse your destiny? Rise and claim your birthright, Ganondorf Dragmire.
Ganon roared as power surged through him. His body grew and bulged and twisted as his clothing strained against him. He flexed his mind and shaped it into a suit of armor that fit him better than anything he had ever worn. He felt his eyes and hair kindle with a fire that burned away the dankness and filth of his underground cell.
Before him was the princess, her arrow shining as golden as the Triforce on her hand.
He considered summoning his swords but quickly concluded that there was no need. He could rip out her throat with his own nails. How lovely her blood would feel against the fever that had alighted on his skin.
How lovely to see you again, Zelda. It's been some time, he leered at her.
"Finally you emerged from your underground lair. A pity you couldn't stay there longer." A corner of her mouth turned up as she pulled her bowstring taunt.
That garish light offends my eyes. Perhaps you could do me the favor of extinguishing it.
"Perhaps you would favor me first by stepping away from the body of my father's advisor. This temple has seen enough slaughter, Gerudo king."
Ganon looked down at Kaepora and kicked him savagely away. The man's blood fanned into the air.
Your wisdom has failed you in your choice of servants, Hylian queen. The boy your gods sent to defend you lies dead in the arms of my consort.
"Send your women away with Impa; this fight does not concern them."
I would sooner kill them myself than trust them to the viper you call friend.
"Then it seems we are at an impasse."
Ganon grinned. He could feel his power rising from him like smoke.
Then you have met your demise.
"That's convenient," Zelda snapped, her face as cruel and sharp as the point of the arrow she aimed at him. "I had come to deliver the same to you."
Ganon charged forward. Zelda released her bowstring, and a blaze of molten gold hurtled toward Ganon, striking him squarely in his breastplate. He bellowed in agony as its magic pierced his armor and sent shockwaves through his body.
Amaranth rushed at Zelda, brandishing her scimitars.
You will not touch him! she cried.
Without blinking, Zelda drew the rapier at her waist, parried Amaranth's thrusts, and sent her reeling with a kick to her knee.
Stay out of this, Zelda said calmly, returning her eyes to Ganon just as he broke his paralysis.
He swiped at her, and she caught his wristguard with the blade of her sword as she swung her bow up against his chin. Before he could strike again, she stepped back, dropped her sword, withdrew an arrow, and buried it in his side.
Damn you, frigid Hylian bitch!
He overcame her magic more quickly this time, but she had already danced away from him.
Zelda notched another arrow on her bow. It glowed golden and magnificent. She shot, and he dodged. He pulled the arrows from his chest and side and flung them away.
She drew and shot again.
He caught her arrow in his hand, the ultraviolent brilliance of his magic clashing against hers in a shower of sparks.
Ganon walked toward her, each step slow and deliberate. She drew another arrow, and with a flick of his will he sent it flying from her hand. He saw her eyes dart to her sword, but he knew she would not be able to reach it.
Zelda met his gaze and then, as he watched, let her bow drop. She stood waiting for him, her back tall.
Do not think I will spare you after the pain you have caused me, he growled.
"And what of the pain you have caused me?" she responded, steel in her voice. "My castle stands empty over a city that lies in ruins from the quakes of your wrath. The lives of my soldiers have been held forfeit by your army. The earth of my fields has been scorched, the beams of my bridges have been snapped, and my iron roads have been ripped from the ground. All of this in a manner of days, Gerudo king."
Do not lay this destruction like an offering at my feet, Hylian queen.
"What can I offer you to satiate your anger?"
You can offer me your life.
"Then I will do so."
The daylight filtering through the temple windows had almost faded, and a feeble sepia light collected in shallow pools on the bloody marble floor.
Zelda raised her arm, slender and pale, and twined her fingers through Ganon's beard. She pulled him down to her. He could choke the breath from her lissome neck, he could claw her heart from under her glimmering armor, he could fry the flesh from her perfect face, but still he allowed her to draw him closer. She closed her eyes as she kissed him.
The pain of her touch shot through his body just as it had when he first pressed his lips to her hand, but her mouth was so soft, and her breath was so sweet.
As late summer turns to fall, the sky over the desert grows heavy and fragrant with the promise of rain. Ganon sensed the cool eastern wind of the changing seasons blowing against his skin, and he was filled with the tension and the longing of the moment just before the first cloud drifts over the mountains.
Zelda's pulse beat into his lips, and he opened himself to her, sweeping her off her feet and lifting her into him. He could feel her smile as he returned her kiss.
If the jealous gods were watching from above, and if the vengeful dead were watching from below, it meant nothing to either of them.
Ganon felt the conflagration that had raged within him grow quiet, and his armor shifted back into the cloth of his robes, cloth he had once embroidered as a boy, dreaming of what it would mean to become a man as he sat around the embers of the kitchen fire with his aunts and sisters. He would give anything to be that boy again, protected from the freezing night by the warmth of laughter, but he knew he could never be anything than what he was and what he always had been, and so he held Zelda to him, his poison and his antidote.
He was struck by an overpowering thirst. He set Zelda on her feet and dropped to his knees. She knelt beside him and sang of bottomless lakes and rivers that never ended, and her cupped palms filled with water. She held her hands to his lips, and he drank.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the boy," Orris said, suddenly beside them. She still held Link. "He's alive, but just barely, and I don't know for how much longer."
Ganon and Zelda stood. Zelda laid her hand on Link's forehead, and Ganon laid his hand over hers. Their Triforce marks shone against the gathering darkness, and Link opened his eyes.
"What's going on?" he mumbled, his words disappearing into the whirring of engines that had descended just outside the door.
What happened here? Aveil called out as she strode into the temple. Did I miss anything?
Orris put Link down and then turned to face her. She laughed, nervously at first but then with growing strength. You're late! As always.
Aveil waved to Ganon. I brought a bunch of sand speeders, she called out. Just a few adjustments, and those things really fly. I'm a genius, right?
Aveil began to approach them but then glanced at a puddle of blood and stopped in her tracks.
Do you guys need a ride? she asked, grimacing.
"We still have business here, I think," Zelda said softly to Ganon. He nodded.
Aveil, take Orris and Amaranth and the two children and return to Lanayru. I will meet you there, Ganon said.
"Impa," Zelda called, and Impa appeared at her side. "Please ensure the castle is completely evacuated, and then flee to safely with all those who have remained. If my father refuses to leave, you are welcome to use force."
"Of course, my lady," Impa replied. "But..." She looked at Zelda, her eyes pained. "Will I see you again?"
"I should order you to stay behind, but I won't. I never want to give another order in my life. I would like to see you again, and soon."
Impa bowed, her shag of white hair falling across her face, and then followed Aveil outside.
The desert will always welcome those who keep its secrets, Orris said, lowering her head slightly before turning away. Nabooru and Link were on her heels, holding hands.
Amaranth paused in the doorway of the temple and glanced over her shoulder at Zelda.
"We were well met, my sister in arms. As your victor's price, you must tell me – what will you do now?"
"This conflict has gone on long enough," Zelda answered.
Ganon placed his hand on her armored shoulder. "Tonight we will end it."
