A/N: AND WE'RE ON!

Link and Taglo raised their shields and gripped their swords; Garoth merely smirked and gave a step forward, coming down the stairs of the small platform; his eyes were fixed upon the two warriors who were standing in front of him.

"You think you can defeat me?" he asked. "We fought before, Hero, and you couldn't even land a single blow."

"It will be different this time," replied Link. The Triforce of Courage began glowing in his hand.

"You have brought a fine present for my Master," said Garoth, an evil grin across his face. "Let me collect it from you."

Garoth rose several feet in the air, a couple feet below the shiny orb, raised a hand and a black ball of energy formed on his palm; he tossed it toward Link and Taglo, who quickly dodged it by jumping in separate ways.

"Link, hand me the Silver Arrows!" yelled Taglo.

Link reached for the quiver and tossed it toward Taglo, who gracefully caught it. Garoth landed back on his feet and lunged toward Link with his sword raised. Link blocked the attack and swung his own blade. Both swords clashed with a shower of sparks over and over, as their wielders swung them back and forth. Taglo aimed with his bow, the Silver Arrow ready on the string, but the two swordsmen moved too much for him to get a clear shot.

"You've improved your skills, boy," said Garoth with a smirk.

"You have no idea how much," said Link. He quickly dodged another attack, did a back flip and sunk his sword into the ground. The bolt of light that erupted from the spot hit Garoth on the chest making him stumble as he screamed in rage; Taglo saw his chance and released the string.

The Silver Arrow pierced Garoth's chest plate and turned into a shower of sparks; a small circle of light could be seen where the tip of the arrow had hit. The Emissary of Darkness was still twitching in pain when Link lunged forward and swung his blade several times, hitting every time the glowing wound.

Garoth then swung his sword hitting Link on the chest, but the chest plate that Mr. Regol had given him saved him from being killed. He flew several feet and fell on his back groaning; Garoth rose in the air again and charged another energy ball. Taglo readied another Silver Arrow and Garoth tossed the orb against Link, who quickly blocked it with his mirror shield which absorbed the attack and began to glow with a purple aura.

"Link, what's happening to your shield?" asked Laila.

"I don't know," replied Link, raising his shield and blocking another attack; the mirror shield glowed with more intensity and started to vibrate.

"Link, I can't get a clear shot!" yelled Taglo.

"I'm doing what I can!" replied Link.

"What games are you playing, Hero?" asked Garoth, charging another orb of dark energy. "Fight like a man!" He launched his attack and Link lifted his shield again.

When the blast hit the mirror surface, Link felt how the vibrations of the shield increased; he was still aiming his shield at Garoth when it unleashed a mass of golden energy back at the Emissary. Garoth opened his eyes wide and lifted his hands forward to block the attack. The mass of energy hit Garoth's hands and he roared while trying to stop it, but Taglo took the chance to shoot another Silver Arrow.

When the point of the shaft pierced Garoth's chest plate, he lost his concentration on Link's attack and got the mass on energy full on the chest; his scream of rage shook the entire arena, as beams of light engulfed him.

"Taglo, shoot now!" yelled Link and Laila at the same time.

The Silver Arrow exploded upon impact with Garoth and he fell heavily on the floor. Link ran toward him and slashed his sword several times at the Emissary.

Garoth screamed in pain and anger, and Link backed away while he saw Garoth's cape starting to go ablaze. Taglo ran toward him with his bow ready, but Link held up a hand so that he stayed back. Garoth stood up and looked at him, his entire clothes and armor draped in a mantle of fire.

Black clouds started to twirl around them, and Link saw Garoth raise a hand at him; an enormous mass of black energy started to form in his hand.

"No more games... it's time to die... Hero," he said, and unleashed the energy at Link.

'"LINK!" yelled Taglo and Laila at the same time, just as Link pushed his fairy out of the way and cast the Nayru's Love.

The blue energy wall materialized in front of him as he held his hands forward, and the mass of dark energy hit it with a big loud shockwave. Link felt how a tremendous amount of energy was drained from him as he struggled to hold up his protective barrier, and soon he saw the spell starting to flicker as his strength started to fade away; the Triforce of Courage was now glowing intense in his hand. He felt how his whole body was now shaking due to the enormous effort that took for him to use the spell.

"You can't hold on forever!" yelled Garoth, and his eye lit up with a red glow as his pressure on the attack increased. "YOU CAN'T BEAT ME! ONLY ONE WHO HAS THE DARKNESS BY HIS SIDE CAN BE STRONG ENOUGH TO RESIST MY POWER!"

As on cue, something then happened that stunned both Taglo and Laila, for Link had now an expression of pure rage and hatred in his face; his skin then started to turn coal-black, his clothes were now of a dark shade of gray and his eyes were starting to glow like if they were on fire.

"Link?" said Taglo, unable to understand what was going on. He had thought he had seen him like that when he saw Link fighting the dodongo, but he hadn't been sure then.

The barrier that protected Link fell, and the blast of Garoth's attack sent him flying against the wall, sending some rocks crumbling into the floor and some others being scattered all around the arena. The entire ground began to shake and Garoth laughed as he let down his hand ending his attack.

"LINK!" yelled Taglo and Laila at the same time, as they saw the energy dissipating and Link falling to the ground, still transformed into his dark self.

"Now!" said Impa with a strong voice inside the other two priests' minds.

Joy opened her eyes and raised her small hands at Faron, who started to radiate a strong golden glow. A beam of light shot upward from him and described an ark heading straight into the barrens.

Zurlo opened his eyes and raised his hands at Lanayru, whose body began to glow with intensity. A beam of golden light shot from Lake Hylia, heading into the deep of the barrens.

Impa also prayed while, atop the Arbiter's Grounds, two beams of light hit the golden orb shining above the tower, and the orb itself started to glow with the intensity of the stars.

A/N: Frozen789, you know I'm a cliffhanger-suspense-loving evil author... so why would you think this was the final chapter? :-D *evil gollum-like grin*

Stay tuned for the next part of the confrontation with Garoth!