Twenty-eight

As we appeared on Hylian soil once more, a low rumble of thunder greeted us, as dark clouds quickly grew to obscure the light of the sun. Link glanced up at them warily, but I just shrugged and moved across the bridge. Hyrule's strange weather forecasting danger and evil was nothing new or unusual, and there was little point in pondering it while there was still a princess in need of rescuing.

We crossed the active town in silence, pushing our way through the crowds until we reached the open space before the path to the palace itself; an eerie feeling rode in the air this close, the heavy weight of Power that pressed on a person's mind. Link grimaced a little, and I nodded in agreement; Ganondorf's subtlety was nonexistent.

The guards eyed us warily, but made no move to prevent us from crossing under the archway through to the bridge and gates of the castle. Whether this was because they recognized me, or recognized the air of purpose we had, we were left unmolested, unchallenged, and approached the golden-black barrier without fear.

It was large and strong; even with my spirits backing me, I knew there was minimal chance of me doing more than cracking a hole in that I could slip through if I was fast enough. Midna, however, had other ideas.

She summoned the three pieces of fused Shadow that had once been kin to the crown she wore. They hovered momentarily as she looked at them, then abruptly snapped back into place. I motioned Link back as Midna was lifted by the power, and thrown about, being tested and forced to prove herself capable without our aid.

When the mask flung her over the edge, Link made a dismayed sound, but I only shook my head and waited. My patience was swiftly rewarded.

The form she took was golden-green-black, with seven limbs much more like arms than legs. Compared to the barrier, she was about the size of a poison mite, but that seemed to matter little to her. She jumped from the parapet of the bridge to a point on the barrier, high above us, initially scrambling to find purchase... and a weak point in the barrier.

I could not see specifically how she broke the barrier—we were too far away for that. But break it she did, shattering it into nothingness.

This took a toll on her; she dropped like a stone, a small speck of shadow amongst the blinding light; Link rushed forward to catch her, and shielded her from what was left of the reaction of the barrier as it soundlessly vanished. Mist flooded out of the grounds, even as the rain poured down from overhead, loosed at last thanks to the release of energy.

As the light faded to a more normal level, I could hear the shouts of panic and confusion that came up from the market. Soon enough, I knew there would be guards up here, nervous or not... but fortunately enough, Midna also came around quickly. Link's relived sigh was met with a tiny smile, and then they both looked at, at the palace we could now enter.

"Let's move, before the guards figure out where they hid their courage and brains," I said quietly.

Midna nodded, floating free and then diving back into Link's shadow. Link and I didn't run, but we weren't exactly slow in slipping through the half-open gate to cross the bridge and enter the palace grounds properly.

The castle courtyard was empty and still. No guards challenged or greeted us, no gardeners were in sight, no frightened courtiers, or servants tried to stampede their way to freedom. It was too quiet.

"This feels like a trap," Link said softly.

I nodded in agreement, and we walked cautiously together towards the main door of the castle. Partway there, a barrier of golden magic surrounded us.

The first thing to attack were the kargarok; they were easy enough to swat out of the sky and discard. Bokoblin were next, a damned mob of them. Link and I went back to back, and cut them down, and I grumbled a little under my breath about one-way barriers and cheating. I don't know that Link understood it, but I felt him chuckle.

Bokoblin were followed by bulbin, and I was losing patience at this point. The rain had slackened some after its initial burst, and after some mental adjustment, I launched a ball of flame that sizzled when hit, but did the job it was meant to.

And then, into the ring fell the bulbin leader. I was fairly sure it was the same idiot we'd been trying to kill since we first encountered him, and I felt Link freeze up in shock. I joined him when the thing actually spoke.

"I have come to play," it growled. "You want into palace, you go through me."

I blinked a couple of times, mentally processing the idea that this thing spoke, then pushed it aside and shrugged.

"Fine by me."

It carried the largest battle axe I had ever seen, and hefted the thing like it weight no more than a spear, then rolled its neck on its shoulders with a smirk. I drew my sword and long knife, stepping up without a second thought.

"Raiha, but..."

"Save your strength, Link," I said firmly, my eyes never leaving the leader. "We'll need it most when we face Ganondorf instead of his damn peons."

I heard him step back, making space for the fight, and then dismissed him entirely from my mind and settled into stance.

The nice thing about speed training is that it makes me damned difficult to hit. The bulbin leader was fast for someone of his size, but he was not quite fast enough to hit me. Which was good, since really, all it would take was one hit with that weapon to do serious, sincere damage. It left large divots in earth and stone where I dodged, and a small part of me wondered if Zelda was going to be annoyed at how we were ruining the public courtyard.

There was something off about the way he fought, but I was not inclined to take the time to figure out what it might be. He was in the way, and I was inclined to remove him.

Remove him, I did. I found the split second of an opening in his impressive guard, and both blades snaked in, driving deep into his chest. There was a look on his face of shock, as though he hadn't thought I might actually kill him, and then I pulled my blades free, and stepped back as he collapsed, greenish blood flowing rapidly out onto the stones.

I had no time for pity or remorse, nor any need to spend the energy on them. After wiping the blades clean, I proceeded to dig through his pouch to see if he had anything remotely useful. Into my hands came a set of keys, and I nodded firmly to myself.

"This should make life much easier," I said as the barrier faded into nothingness again.

Link stared at the downed body of the bulbin leader, then looked up at me, almost searchingly. Whatever he saw in my face unnerved him, and I am sorry for that, but I had no time to spare on worrying about what he thought of me either.

The keys unlocked the entrance to the castle, and I headed inside.

The air was heavy and still,the same sort of stillness that had blanketed the air outside. Fear and anger gave the air a distinct taste... but it was not just those in the air. The entryway was where we found the first bodies; the guards that had tried to defend their castle, and a handful of servants lay scattered about like broken dolls... though granted, dolls don't bloat and rot.

Link choked a little, and took a shaky step back as I looked around the dimly-lit room dispassionately. I would feel it all later, when there was safety and room to allow it, but at the moment, I needed focus. I needed to be cold and heartless, feeling pity nor anger, nor regret at long this had taken us.

"Focus on the task at hand,Link," I said quietly. "We still have much to do before we emerge victorious from this."

He made a faint sound that was close enough to agreement for me to accept, and I strode across the large room to the doors on the far side that would lead us to the stairs up.

More bodies littered every room we stepped into. Women. Children. Old men. Young men. Servants, guards, courtiers... It was such a flagrant waste of life.

The walls were stained with soot from explosions, and blood from bodies, and the stentch of rot was thick everywhere. And of course, it wasn't like the palace was empty. We saw plenty of opposition as we climbed stairs and explored rooms with the keys I carried; bokoblin, dinalfos, lizalfos... like Zant, Ganondorf has used the time we'd been forced to take gathering the shards of the mirror to fortify his position in the palace.

And he hadn't given half a damn about the people who had lived in it.

One stairway was completely collapsed; I knew it to be a feature of this particular set of stairs, and not something he'd done himself, but it was still a problem. The stairs were triggered by a special stone insert... that was at the top of the stairs, not the base. It was meant to discourage any invaders, forcing them to take another path around that was narrower, and more of a bottleneck.

But it could also be surmounted, if one was determined and clever.

"Can you shimmy up that ledge?" I asked, nodding slightly to the narrow strip of stone that only just peeked out from the wall.

"...yeah," Link nodded firmly after a minute. "I can get up that."

"All right, here's what we'll do, then. I'll take the clawshots, and go from vent to vent as you shimmy up. That way if you fall, I'll have a chance of catching you."

"Your faith in me is astounding," He sighed a little, affecting a pout.

I blinked, and had to smile, just a tiny bit.

"I have plenty of faith in you," I replied. "This is just insurance."

Sobering, he nodded, and passed over the clawshots.

Annoyingly enough, no matter how bound my breasts were, I would never have been able to make it up the ledge, But I could, and did, clawshot from decorative light cover to cover up the stairwell until we reached the top. Fortunately for my state of mind, I did not have to use them to rescue the hero from a fall.

At the top, a chain-mesh portcullis dropped from the ceiling, and a large darknut came to life the moment it hit the ground at our heels. It went immediately for Link, who just managed to get his shield up in time to deflect the blow, though he staggered back, having not been prepared for it.

This one was better made than the one we'd faced at the Temple of Time, and while slow, moved fluidly, blocking Link's attacks with undeniable skill.

I admit, I felt just slightly insulted. While I doubted Ganondorf had forgotten about me, it wasn't hard to guess that he saw any threat I possessed as being negligible.

On the other hand, it allowed me to nip in and out of the fight, slicing straps to reach the core of the creature. Link was the one to kill it, to be certain, but with the way he smiled at me in relief, I knew he was wondering just how hard this might have been to do alone.

Lightly I patted his shoulder, and we continued on through the darkened portrait gallery hall, until we reached the door that would take us back outside.

"We're almost there," I told him. "One more set of interior stairs, and then we'll head back to to reach the throne room."

"That's where he is?"

"That's where he is."

Link's jaw firmed, and his shoulders straightened. We stepped out into stillness, no rain, not even a tiny hint of a breeze disturbed the thick fog that had come to lay across the ramparts. From the mists came aeralfos, swooping down to attack wit only the rushing sounds of their wings to warn us.

Now, the path around the palace's upper floors isn't necessarily narrow, but with the fog, it's hard to judge where the edge is. A fall from that height would have been bad, to say the least, but we received some unexpected help.

Arrows hissed into the air around us, and the aeralfos fell with cries of pain and surprise. Link stared, then turned in surprise at the sound of voices from below. I hid a smile, and moved to the parapet; making their way through the mists were not just Telma's little group, but a good number of guardsmen and women from the market, slowly fanning out to search the grounds.

The members of the resistance waved, and I lifted a hand slightly in acknowledgment. Link's wave was much more enthusiastic, and there was the faintest change in the air. An anger that had grown... deeper, more dire.

"We've officially been noticed," I said calmly. "We should keep moving."

"Will they be all right?"

"They'll be fine. The worst they'll run into down there are probably some bulbin or bokoblin. Most of the guards are useless, but I'm pretty sure Telma would make certain that the ones she and the others brought with aren't."

He hesitated a moment, then nodded, and we headed back in for the final passage of stairs.

The upper levels were empty and clear, the smell of remains only faintly present in the air. Tension crept along my shoulders and neck as I listened hard for anything that might jump to the attack, but...

"There's nothing here?" Link murmured.

"False sense of security, maybe," I replied. "Lull us into complacency, maybe... I don't know, I've only faced him a small handful of times."

"But you know him..."

"I know my enemy, yes," I said quietly as I unlocked the last door that would lead us out to the balcony below the throne room. "But that's because he's predictable, and the feel of Power doesn't change from encounter to encounter. Little things like this, I can only guess at."

The lock gave with a click that sounded almost preternaturally loud, and I paused before opening it, turning to give Link a long look.

"This is it," I told him quietly. "Up the outer stair from here, we'll find both our missing princess, and the enemy of old. Ready?"

Fatigue was all but burned away within me, supplanted by the magic that I was using to ward off weariness. It was helped along by anticipation, excitement, adrenaline; the hope and prayer that soon this would be done, and I could be free.

Midna slid out of Link's shadow, taking full form in the darkened hallway, her face set.

"I'm ready," she said firmly.

After a breath of time, Link nodded.

"Me too."

I nodded as well, pushing aside extraneous emotions, and gave the door a push.

The wind at this level of the palace was rarely still, though the paltry breeze had nothing on the strength of the winds in Celestia. The rain might have halted, but the thunder still rumbled a threat, and in this distance, under clouds that glowed with golden twilight, lightning flickered in warning. Up here, the taste of anger was stronger than ever, and I shoved aside a thrill of eager anticipation. I could not afford to become careless now.

The throne room situated at the highest point of the castle had been a defensive measure added almost a century after Ganondorf's first failed coup; the stairs were good cover for a defending army, though it had been a very long time since anyone had ever thought to invade Hyrule from without. No, these days, all the danger seems to be internal...

I digress.

Up the stairs we went, and into a throne room that held no light from within. Instead, light was provided with flashes of lightning, and what was left of the mostly-blocked twilight behind us.

Being an open-aired room, it carried with it little scent from the bodies that lay near the pillars—soldiers all—or smoke and ash from the places where Ganondorf's magic had missed rebellious targets, leaving scorch marks on the white marble. The odd statue of the goddesses had been broken; a stone head the size of Link lay at the midpoint between throne and entrance, which gave both him and Midna pause.

I was already looking up, so I saw what they had both missed; Zelda's still body, colorless and lifeless, hung at the heart of the triangle. Link drew in a sharp breath and would have rushed forward, but Midan's arm flashed out a moment behind mine, and the double warning stilled him.

My gaze had traveled lower, to the tall Gerudo male sitting on the throne that was not his.

"Welcome to my castle,"Ganondorf said. The words were followed by a low, cruel chuckle. "Do you like my decorations?"

"Your taste is as appalling as ever," I said coolly.

The weight of his gaze was almost literal, and I could sense that he would like nothing better than to force me to kneel at his feet. But there was nothing he could do to me here and now, and... I got the sense that he didn't truly recognize me, as strange as it sounds.

To be fair, if it hadn't been for the sense of the Triforce of Power, I probably would not have recognized him either; his time as a bodiless being had not necessarily improved him, though it had certainly changed him. He was still recognizably Gerudo, with the dark mahogany skin, and red hair, the jewel of kingship crowning his forehead, but...

I can't explain it properly. I suppose I never shall.

"So...you're Ganondorf," Midna said, ice in her voice.

He stood then, the low chuckle sounding once more, this time with a note of contempt in it. He held a sheathed blade in one hand that rippled with the power of magical construct, and I knew it to be a blade of Sage construct creation. No doubt the same one they had first attempted to execute him with before they sent him into the realm of the Twili. Link took up a protective stance near Midna, his hand reaching up to rest on the blue hilt of the Master Sword.

Midna was not impressed.

"I've been just dying to meet you," she said, finishing with a feral grin.

"Your people have long amused me, Midna," Ganondorf said, taking firm steps forward to cut some of the ditance. "Defying the gods with such petty magics, only to be cast aside... how very pathetic. But it was that very thing that served me; their anguish and despair was my nourishment. The hatred of their circumstances bled across the void and awakened me... I drew deeply on that, and became strong again. It's a pity that with all their skill, they lacked true power."

He took a few casual steps to the side, then turned away from us in a show of arrogance to look up at Zelda's still form.

"The kind of absolute power given to those chosen by the gods..."

"You weren't chosen," I said irritably, breaking into the monologue. "If the gods chose anyone to wield Power, it certainly wouldn't be a dictator who couldn't see ten feet in front of his face. The only reason you have that Triforce piece is because of luck."

He turned back, and that burning gaze fell upon me again. I met it with a challenging stare of my own, and I saw, for a brief moment, the flicker of furious recognition.

"You might be one of the chosen wielders of power, but I will risk everything to deny you!" Midna added, her own voice tight with righteous anger.

"So... shadow has been moved by light," and the fierce gaze turned to Midna instead. "How amusing. Very well, deny me then. Yes... try to deny me," and he looked upwards at Zelda, as the magic of a spell I did not recognize began to blur the room. "You and your little friends..."

Whether he was talking to her or me wasn't important. What was, was Midna recognized the spell, and took to the air, moving to protect Zelda with her own body. Unfortunately, it did no good; Ganondorf vanished, and the power of the spell shot harmlessly through Midna, into Zelda's empty body. To give her credit, Midna did try. But Ganondorf had taken the perfect hostage; not Midna, nor Link, nor myself could harm the princess.

I didn't see the moment he woke in her body, but I felt it, and Midna was thrown back, landing hard, and rolling outside of the throne room in a dazed heap. Link ran for her, but I held my ground, my eyes on the possessed Zelda; there was no point to running. Midna would either be fine or she wouldn't, but the fight was now.

Sure enough, barriers came down over the room exits, and Zelda's body floated downwards, then landed delicately on the floor. At closer range, I could see that the gray of this Zelda had been replaced by Ganondorf's hard yellow, and there was a dark geometric pattern on either side of her neck, highlighted against the corpse-pale skin.

My mind whirled briefly in frenzy, then stilled as a sword—a delicate rapier, made specifically for the princess—was called into being. There was a way to win this. The fact that Zelda did not have enough magical power to prevent this was not anyone's fault; she had given that power up to save Midna's life, and aid our journey. And no matter what he thought, Ganondorf had exploitable weaknesses.

We just had to figure out what they were.

"You three are faithless fools to challenge the power of the king of light and shadow," and there was an eerie duality, hearing both Zelda and Ganondorf's voices at once. "So you choose. And so you shall feel my wrath."

Zelda's feet left the ground then, her face contorted in a smirk that was pure Ganondorf as she headed out of range of blades.

"...what do we do?" Link whispered, moving to stand beside me once more.

"We wing it."

For what else could we do?

Fortunately for my peace of mind, Ganondorf remained anything but subtle. Or even particularly creative. He devolved into three basic attacks; hitting us from below with a flare of power, coming at us in a lunge, sword first, or crafting up a ball of magic to throw at us. It was the ball of magic that jarred something loose in my brain from so long ago that I wasn't sure I had truly seen it, or was just imagining the memory. But either way, it was worth a shot.

"Hit it!" I called to Link, just as the ball was released. "Send it back to him!"

Link didn't stop to question me, he just obeyed. The shock on Zelda's face would have been comical if it had been Ganondorf's own, and he hung there for a moment, just out of reach as the lightning surged and crackled over his stolen form. Inwardly, a tiny part of me spared a wince for Zelda.

But it gave me the germ of an idea as well.

It was hard staying with Link as we dodged the attacks, but when the next ball of magic was launched, I was glad I had. I offered no explanation—there was no time. As Link's arm drew back to strike the magic back where it came from, I put a fingertip on the back of his neck, and touched the Light Medallion, sending a surge of power through me, into Link, and then into the sword. When it connected, the power was sent into the spell, and amplified.

Stunned was not the word for Ganondorf's reaction; he had underestimated the amount of damage that his stolen body could take, and he hung there, immobile as the light energy poured into him. His barriers collapsed as he did, and from behind us, Midna acted.

Using the Fused Shadows once more, she took on that 'monstrous' form, and made as if to attack. Ganondorf was in no position to defend, and the two hands wrapped around Zelda's body, pumping magic in its purest form thought to expel him from the princess. Zelda, when Midna released her, looked as though she was only sleeping, there on the throne.

The three of us shared a moment of relief, but the fight with Ganondorf was far from over. As Midna retook her natural form, Ganondorf's shadows recollected themselves at our back, taking the form not of a man, but a giant boar, with humanoid hands and feet. As with his human form, the beast bore a great wound across his belly that bled silvery blood, though it did not seem inclined towards stopping him from charging at us.

I did not want to move, not with Zelda more or less directly behind, and still well in the way of the fighting, but the decision was taken from me as the barriers reappeared... this time, the golden glow was softer, more pure, and I glanced at Midna out of the corner of my eye. She smirked at me, and I nodded a little.

We dodged almost as a unit, each of us in separate directions; I half-hoped Ganondorf would stun himself by running straight into the barrier, but he managed to turn himself in time, and took out the decorative pillars on the right side of the room, crashing through them and reducing them to rubble before vanishing in a flare of shadows.

This was a new trick, and we three came together quickly, scanning the room with care. Link saw the portals forming first, and nudged me. I watched, and then instinct prompted me to reach for my bow as the portals pinged from one spot to the next, never fully opening until the last possible moment.

If he thought we would be caught off guard, he was mistaken; the moment a portal snapped properly open, another memory, of ancient paintings in an equally ancient temple, warned me. My bow was up, and the arrow was loosed even as he came charging out, the gem on his forehead flaring to a blinding incandescence that forced me to look away. He howled as I scored a direct hit, and came sliding across the floor; Link pulled me out of the way before he turned and gave a fierce slash to Ganondorf's exposed belly.

The pain revived the boar-creature, and he lunged back to his feet, swinging his mighty tusks around to attack, but we all scrambled out of the way. Roaring his fury, he went into another charge, this time taking out the pillars on the left side of the room.

This time, he descended from the ceiling, and I constantly thank all the gods that Midna saw him first. Being flattened by a giant man-boar would have been a very embarrassing way to get out of the fight. She had no time to warn me; instead she just grabbed me with her magic and pulled me abruptly from harms way. Surprised by the move, the bow fell from my fingers, and was crushed to splinters beneath one of Ganondorf's hands.

I spared a moment to curse about the loss of my weapon, even as I nodded thanks to Midna for saving my from severe injury. She nodded back, grinning a little at the colorful phrases I tossed Ganondorf's way.

The fall had stunned Ganondorf, it seemed; either that or he had landed badly thanks to crushing my bow. Either way, his belly was exposed again, and once more Link swooped in to make the injury worse.

"Midna, how large can you make that hand of yours?" I asked as Link rolled out of the way of Ganondorf's retaliatory strike.

"...pretty large, why?"

"Because I have no bow, but he's not gone down yet. We need him to go down and stay down. I think if you can get a good grip on him and flip him, Link and I can do the rest."

She grinned at me sharply, and nodded.

"Oh, I can definitely do that."

She could too; the next time Ganondorf emerged from a portal, she was ready and waiting; her feet braced against a miniature barrier of her own. She forced him to a standstill, and threw him to the side, allowing both Link and myself to lunge in with weapons drawn to slice into the exposed injuries.

With a howl of pain and rage, Ganondorf raised up on his hind legs...and then toppled over sideways, laying still, and only just seeming to breath. The silence fell, and Midna's barriers faded away as his body seemed to burn with black and gold flames.

He was not, arguably, dead. I could still feel the Triforce of Power, and was ready tor each out and take it when Midna began to glow golden from within, and glimmering motes of light separated from her; Zelda's soul left the healed Twili princess, and returning, at least, to its own body. Zelda's gray eyes opened, and she lifted her head slowly, then smiled warmly.

"Pr... princess," Midna stammered softly. "I... I..."

"Say nothing, Midna," Zelda said gently, rising to her feet. "Your heart and mine were as one, however briefly."

Zelda looked up briefly, her expression sad, then down again.

"Such suffering you have endured..."

Midna's face was a study in relief... but that relief was short-lived. From behind us, the sense of Power suddenly spiked with a sound much like a sizzling snap. I whirled, cursing myself mentally for allowing my attention to waver, and reached for one of the Medallions in my bandoleer; surely the Light Medallion could weaken him!

A giant, glowing head, a creating purely of magic and hatred, met my gaze, and despite myself, I took a step back. I had prepared for many things, but this... was not one of them. Link and Zelda also moved back, the hero protectively before the princess.

Midna, however, was the only one of us not momentarily cowed. She looked at this giant head, this mass of magic and malice... and called for the Fused Shadows once more. She turned, and smiled at us, confidence in her every pore. Link realized what she was about to do at the same moment I did; unlike me, he reached out, trying to stop her... and we were whisked away into the shadows.

When the darkness cleared, we were standing on the plains of Hyrule, just beyond the bounds of Kakariko. Zelda and Link looked around in bewilderment, but I turned my gaze towards the castle, reaching out and seeking the sense of Power, and the lesser magic of the Fused Shadow.

The explosion that rocked the land, and the castle was more than enough for me to know that Midna had not managed to defeat Ganondorf. His appearance moments later, sitting atop a black horse, only confirmed this. He rubbed in his victory by holding aloft the crown Midna had always worn... and crumbling it in his hands.

"No..." Link whispered, agony in his voice. "No, no, no!"

The wind did not carry Ganondorf's laughter to us, for which I was glad; an aching nunbness spread through me, composed of too many emotions at once to be felt properly. He wheeled his horse expertly, and summoned the spirits of the dead to ride with him.

I heard Link shift in preparation to fight beside me, and closed my eyes.

Enough. Was. Enough.

Zelda and I spoke in unison. If we had planned it, it could not have been a more perfect moment.

"Spirits of the light!" we called. "Wielders of the great power that shines far and wide upon the lands of our world... In this hour of need, grant us the light to banish evil!"

Time slowed. Stilled. In a very real sense, the three of us vanished as my spirits pulled us into a pocket of time and space to the side. The light came easily here, to the call of those who needed it most, and in a flash, golden arrows appeared, and a bow to match. I passed them both to Zelda, who did not question my decision.

"We are safe for the moment," I said briskly, putting one hand on Link's shoulder, and one on Zelda's. "But only for the moment. Speak quickly, before the spell runs its course."

Zelda nodded, and the grief in her eyes dimmed into respect, and relief as she looked to Link.

"Link," she said gently. "Chosen hero. Please... lend us the last of your power."

She bowed to him, as no ruler is ever meant to bow to a person below them. I had to smile as Link blinked, blushed a little, then shyly offered her his hand instead. Zelda lifted her head, then smiled softly again, and put her hand into his.

I pulled on the magic,hard, and summoned up Epona,and Windchaser.

"On," I urged them. "Link, the Arrows of Light will stun Ganondorf, but only for a short time. Keep Zelda close enough to hit him, and try to knock him from his horse if you can."

"What about you?" he asked, even as he climbed up and I boosted Zelda into place behind him.

"My time in this fight is done, but I can keep the ghosts off your back," I replied, hauling myself into the saddle as well. "You've got this Hero. Win."

Even as the temporary safety collapsed, and we were returned to the world, I saw him nod firmly, grief set aside for the battle that yet lay ahead. When he saw Ganondorf, he charged, and Zelda held on tightly, an arrow already glowing on the string of the bow. Ganondorf charged as well, and his ghostly host followed behind. The spirits were immune to normal weapons, but I had a weapon that was anything but normal.

I took the Light Medallion in hand, and banished the spirits one by one as we gave chase, riding through them to dispel the forms that the King of Evil had summoned up. It was not comfortable, but it was all I could do to ensure their safety. After what felt like hours, but was logically only a few minutes, I turned just in time to watch Link pull a trick that I hadn't even considered; instead of throwing his weight against Ganondorf to throw them both from the saddle, he leaned over and cut the girth.

The abrupt shift was too much for the former Gerudo king who hadn't had a body or ridden a horse in only Nayru knows how long. His horse went one way, and Ganondorf went another thrown heavily to the ground. Windchaser and I came to a stop beside Epona, and the three of us watched with wary eyes.

Ganondorf slowly rose to his feet in the cloud of dust his landing had raised; he was injured now, one arm hanging awkwardly, but he still held the sheathed Sages Sword, and still had the air of a man who was certain he would win against all odd.

Instead of attacking, he laughed. I dismounted, not because I was ready to fight, but because if I received the chance I hoped for, it would be better to be off the horse than on her. Link followed suit; only Zelda remained on Epona and I passed her the headstall reins for Windchaser as well—if all went well, I didn't want to have to walk back to the palace.

"An impressive blade," Ganondorf sneered, cold eyes locked onto Link. "But nothing more."

"Oh, he feels this, all right,"I murmured as I stepped up to Link's shoulder. "Remember, it is the Blade of Evils' Bane. You can do this, Link."

He nodded without taking his gaze from Ganondorf and stepped forward, Master Sword at the ready.

"Would you hear my desire?" Ganondorf asked mockingly. "To take this foul blade," and finally he unsheathed the Sages sword, contemptuously throwing the sheathe aside, "and use it to bblot out the light forever!"

A barrier sprang up as he approached Link; a wall too high for Zelda or I to breach, but I had been prepared for this. The fight between Ganondorf and Link has always been between only them. Zelda and I, in this we were merely spectators.

For all Ganondorf stood at close to seven feet in height, it was Link who dominated the battle from the word go. When their swords locked, Link was the one who pushed back with the strength to knock the former Gerudo king to his knees, and the speed to attack in those unguarded moments. Though superficial at first, the injuries began to pile up.

A forearm guard fell off into the dirt with a heavy clank as the sharpness of the Master Sword sliced through the leather straps.

The cloak became so much useless cloth, shredding so badly that Ganondorf himself cut it free with an angry growl.

The ground became spattered with blood as Link found a tiny opening and exploited it, just as he had been trained.

Link took a kicked to the chest, but even as he tumbled backwards, the sword licked out, and Ganondorf let out a howl of furious pain as it tore through cloth and flesh both, dropping him to his knees. The hero flipped immediately back to his feet, and took extreme advantage of that moment; in a swift move, he had lunged in and thrust the Master Sword through the glowing silver scar that bisected Ganondorf's chest.

His mouth opened in a silent scream, and I could feel the rage that washed out like a hammer blow. Link jumped back, but left the blade deeply embedded in Ganondorf's body, allowing it to do the work it was meant to do; kill evil beings.

Somehow, despite this, Ganondorf managed to find the strength to get to his feet, though he had little strength for anything else; his barrier had collapsed, and I silently crept up on his blind side, ready to act.

"Don't... think this ends... here," he ground out. "The history... of light and shadow... will be written in... blood."

I could sense the strength that was waning, and closed my eyes, summoning the spell I had prepared in advance for this day many decades before. As he called for the power of his Triforce piece, I I reached for it, and cast out... let's call it a net. A net meant to attract and hold strong pieces of power, whether their wielders wanted that or not.

If it had worked the way it was supposed to, I would now be free of my mandate.

I don't know what went wrong. I felt, for a moment, as though it had caught; the boundless power of the Triforce piece sang in my mind, whispering to me of what I could do once I had it. The things I could create, the rights I could wrong, the ways I could fix my mistakes.

I pulled... and something resisted me. It pulled back, already accustomed to the Power I was trying to take, and not willing in the slightest to give it up. Nor more was I, and I thought, in a battle of wills, I would come out the victor.

The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back with both Zelda and Link peering at me in panicked concern, my head ringing like I'd stuck it in a church bell.

"Are you okay?!" Link asked frantically, his face pale with fear.

His voice came to me as though I was underwater, and I lifted a hand weakly, trying to wave away the concern. I knew this feeling, unpleasant as it was.

"Backlash," I said thickly."I'll... be fine. Just give me a moment..."

I sensed more than saw Zelda's sigh of relief, and I fully intended to take that moment until I realized that I was no longer sensing the Triforce of Power. I jackknifed into a sitting position, ringing head or not, then followed by flinging myself to my feet.

Not the wisest of moves, but I needed to see.

Ganondorf stood there still, the Master Sword sticking out of his chest like some grotesque nail in a coffin. He was very clearly dead.

Link caught me before I could fall, and looped one of my arms over his shoulders as I struggled to deal with the emotions rising within.

Failure. Again, failure. My spell had not worked. My plan had not worked, and now the Triforce of Power was gone with Ganondorf's soul, to wherever it would reside until he was reborn, and the cycle was begun anew.

I wanted to scream. I wanted ti weep and wail,and rail against the injustices of it all. I wanted to destroy something. I wanted to break Ganondorf's body until there was nothing left to it.

I did none of these things. I allowed Link to support me over to Zelda, who helped me to sit again. I didn't put up a protest when he curled my fingers once more around the Light Medallion and the physical affects of the backlash receded rapidly.

I might well have remained in a fog of furious grief, however, had it not been for one person.

We had fought for long hours, it seemed, though we had been caught on the edges of twilight. In truth, it was dawn that was now breaking through the clouds that were fading with the banishment of Ganondorf's evil.

Our mother, came the whisper. Though you grieve, there is yet one thing that can be done.

Slowly, I lifted my head.

What can be done? I asked slowly, feeling as though I had to push the words out through mud.

Midna is not dead.

It took a second, but when that information connected, I was on my feet in a second, and running for the top to the hill in the next moment; the power of the spirits gathered there, around what was left of the fused shadow. Their brief manifestation, and even briefer use of power was all I needed to know.

Link was only a few steps behind me, and Zelda behind him. They didn't know why I was running, but they both knew me well enough to understand that I don't run for small things.

The form that greeted us, as dawn broke fully over the land and bathed it in a soft golden light, was not the little imp we had come to know and love. Midna unfolded to her true height, a mature adult at long last, and turned to face us with a warm smile.

"What?" she asked, her voice briefly self-conscious. "Say something! Or," and the warm smile turned sly and mischievous, "am I so beautiful now that you've no words left?"

I could, I decided, be upset with myself later. In that moment, at least one thing had gone just as it was supposed to.