BlueIrish, Visitor, Chuck, TalimTheWindWaker, Dumbledore - thanks for reviewing! I appreciate the continued support, and for the newcomers, welcome to Quietus! You chose a good time to join us .

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Naela. I'm not overly fond of battle scenes myself - and wars are hell to write - but it is much easier to digest if you only focus on a handful of characters. And on the subject of Dark Link, yes, it's Links 'dark side' given form by Ganon.

Welcome back Kyia Star! Thanks for pointing out the 'dying' error. I made the correction. Unfortunately, I couldn't fix the 'alright' use - I've apparently been using it throughout the story, and it's too late to revise it all now x.x. I didn't know it was slang (though I should have), but if Eriol said it, then it would be fine - being raised on a farm, his language wouldn't be polished. If I made one of the royals say it... then it was a severe misstep x.x.

Chapter updates will proceed much more quickly after this - maybe about once a week, maybe more often. Why? I have only one last chapter to write, and by the time I upload the five chapter gap between what I post and what I write, I expect to have finished it. I hope you guys have all enjoyed the story so far - the end is in sight, my friends.

Legend of Zelda and all official characters are licensed by Nintendo. They are not mine, I take no credit for them, and I make no profit off of them. All extra characters are mine, as well as the overall plot of the story.

It takes a while to finish a chapter, so expect sporadic updates. I'll try to post every time I finish a chapter. Finally, I hope you all will enjoy the fic.

The Legend of Zelda: Quietus

XXXV

Link flinched and fell back under the force of the blows his shadow rained upon his shield. Each strike felt like a Goron's punch, rock-shattering and bone-jarring. Worse yet was that this furious assault carried his own unique fighting style, one that left very few openings for an opponent to take advantage of. Link could not claim this was some trick of the Evil King's – he was truly fighting himself. Or at least, the part of him that thrived on beating an opponent into submission.

With precise timing, Link brought his sword up and then down onto the doppelganger's blade, sidestepping the attack and throwing the shadow creature off balance. He whirled around and slashed at the creature's back but the shadow had turned to greet the attack with a powerful backswing of his shield. Link stumbled backwards to give himself room to breath.

Blast! Our style is identical, but he keeps beating me back, forcing me to play defensive. If this creature came from the part of me that hungered for battle, then does this mean it was my bloodlust that gave me my skill?

Further thought was interrupted as the shadow creature lunged at him, yellow eyes gleaming maliciously in the darkness. As Link fended off the attack, he found himself staring at the creature's face. The face he had stared into whenever he found himself before a mirror. The only difference was that the face he now observed was twisted by rage and lust for bloodshed.

"How does it feel?" Ganon asked. Link could feel the Evil King's eyes watching him as he fought for his life. "How does it feel to know what hundreds of slain beasts knew when you bore down on them with sword and shield?"

Ganon's laugh echoed in his ears as Link parried and dodged. I can't listen to him. I need to focus on the – ARGH!

A sudden feint caught Link off guard and his shadow was able to smash its shield into his chest. The mail worn beneath his tunic saved Link from the worst of the blow but the heavy shield knocked the breath from him. The doppelganger grinned and smashed its sword-wielding fist into Link's cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The shadow stood over him, sword raised, point-downwards. Link stared up at it, the ominous vision swimming once more through his mind.

My sword is raised.

Stand over the monster.

Stand over myself.

Only one of us will live.

One kingdom will fall with its death.

With my death.

No!

The blade came down and Link rolled to the side. He scrambled to his feet and went on the attack as the shadow pulled its sword free. His sword flashed through the air as he began forcing his doppelganger backwards.

This can't be it. I won't be beaten by this… this monster! I won't be beaten by my own darkness!

And that's what this creature was. It was everything Link loathed about himself. The bloodlust, the thirst for destruction, the joy of killing monsters. If he was defeated by this monster, then that would mean that he truly was nothing without it. That no matter how much he tried, he would never wash himself of its taint.

This monster could not be all there was that made him who he was.

As he fought, Link felt his left hand tingle with a warm, soothing sensation. At first he was afraid it was the hand going numb from some unseen injury, but then he remembered the Triforce emblem emblazoned across the back of his hand. The Triforce of Courage.

The doppelganger parried one of Link's attacks and whirled around to strike at his back, mimicking Link's early maneuver. Rather than spinning to face the blade he knew was coming, Link dropped to the ground and hook his leg out in a backwards sweep. It caught the back of shadow's knee and sent the creature toppling to the ground beside him. Link scrambled on top of the doppelganger, and wrestled the beast onto its back.

Straddling the creature with both legs on its arms, Link began to pummel his own twisted visage with his hilt-grasping fist, smashing it across its face from one side and then the other. "All these years," he hissed as he rained blow after blow onto the creature. "All these years I've been tormented by the shadows of my own heart, tortured by an undying lust for battle… I nearly killed my own brother because of my weakness! No more! No more!"

Link raised his sword and swung the tip downwards, gripping the hilt with both hands. He stared into the beaten, bloody face of his doppelganger, a creature born from the darkness of his heart. Pale yellow eyes stared back up at him.

One kingdom will fall with its death.

With my death.

He plunged his blade downwards into the chest of the creature pinned beneath him. The blade met little resistance. Blood boiled from the wound, running down the creature's black tunic. Its eyes rolled back in their sockets as blood began to stream from its mouth.

Link gasped and let go of his sword, clasping a fist to his chest. A sharp pain welled within the area where he had sunk his blade into his shadow. Of course… the shadow was still part of him, and he could feel its death as keenly as he could feel his own. The creature began to shrivel and turn to smoke beneath him. The pain in his chest numbed and spread throughout his body.

The shadow vanished and Link found himself kneeling on the ground. That empty hole inside of him had been filled once more, but he could no longer feel the touch of darkness at the edge of his consciousness. He could feel none of the bloodlust such battles awoke within him.

"I broke free," Link murmured. I've finally purged the darkness from my heart…

"Impressive," Ganon said quietly.

Link could barely hear the Evil King's voice over the battle still raging around them. War cries mingled with death screams, carried to his ears by the deafening rumbles of thunder. By the faint, growing light on the eastern horizon and the sporadic bursts of lightning Link sought out his allies but could not distinguish them on the battlefield. They all looked like monsters to his eyes, monsters bred by war, thriving on chaos.

He felt horribly weary. Link was tired of this war. But it wasn't over yet.

"Perhaps the blood of the Hero runs in your veins after all," Ganon continued.

Link turned and glared at him. He did not stand – he wasn't sure if he could.

"It will make your demise all the more enjoyable." Ganon raised a hand to the sky. The darkness of the early morning sky seemed to swirl and converge just above his opened palm. "I congratulate you for overcoming your true nature, though I doubt you have escaped unscathed. I admit, taking advantage of your temporary weakness may not be how I woudd have envisioned our centuries-long emnity to end, but history has taught me to take no chances."

Link pulled himself to his feet, using his sword to support himself. He could feel his strength gradually returning. "…A Hylian Knight meets all threats on his feet, sword in hand. Do your worst, you outdated piece of mythological trash."

Ganon's eyes narrowed to angry slits. "Then die on your feet, you insolent whelp." The scintillating energies in Ganon's upraised hand leapt forward like a bolt of lightning.

The magical attack never hit. Something crashed into Link's side, sending him sprawling to the ground. Ganon's attack reduced the ground where Link had stood to smoking glass crater.

Whatever had knocked him down was on top of him. Link squirmed and the creature stood up – but as Link turned his eyes to the person who had saved his life, he realized it was a Hylian. Even more startling was the fact that it was Eriol.

"…Are you alright, brother?"

Their eyes met and Link saw a deep weariness in his brother's gaze. Weariness, resignation, and deep shame. There was desire for forgiveness in those emerald eyes, a desire for redemption. Link found himself staring at the Hylian shield strapped to Eriol's arm. Even here, with death and destruction whirling around him, Link felt a sudden rush of joy. Eriol had finally found the place he belonged. He had joined the fight against Ganon.

Eriol offered his hand, but said nothing. There was nothing to be said. Link took his hand and was helped to his feet. "It's about time," he said with a faint smile.

"It always took me longer to learn lessons," Eriol confessed.

The air rumbled with unnatural thunder. The warning sense in the back of Link's neck kicked in and he leapt in front of his brother, his shield protecting him. A bolt of energy struck its polished surface – and was suddenly rebounded back at Ganon. The Evil King, surprised, could not deflect the blow in time and was blown off of his horse.

Eriol stared at his brother. "…Your shield can deflect his attacks?"

Link shrugged. "That was what the Mirror Shield was rumored to be able to do… I suppose, like with everything else in this war, the legends were true."

"Then you could have saved yourself without my help!"

Link shrugged once more.

"The Master Sword and the Mirror shield," Ganon murmured. The two brothers turned and watched as he rose from the ground, his robes smoldering. His eyes were lit with unnatural fire, his face twisted by rage. "How fitting that the heir to the Hero's legacy possess such weapons… and how fitting that they be possessed by the more honorable brother."

Eriol stepped forward and raised his sword, tip pointed at Ganon. "That's enough. You're not going to control me anymore. I'm done with your influence. Link's the greatest knight in Hyrule, and I'm not going to let my jealousy destroy that."

"How noble," Ganon growled, drawing himself up to his full, formidable height.

"It's not about being noble," Eriol murmured, "it's about doing what's right. You tricked me into thinking that you were the victim and your monsters needed help. I'd say we're even now."

"It seems you still have not learned your place, boy. If you swear yourself to me once more, I may overlook your temporary –"

"Burn in the dark world, old man."

Rage twisted Ganon's features into a scowl of hatred. "You'll pay for your insolence, boy!" Raising both of his arms, Ganon let fly twin blasts of dark magic at his former general.

Link stepped forward, but Eriol held him back with one arm. The mark of the Triforce blazed to life as he raised his other hand, and with a slight gesture, Ganon's attacks imploded in on themselves. "You should have thought twice before giving me the Triforce of Power, old man."

"Do not presume that the shadow I gave you is the real Triforce," Ganon snarled, raising his right hand. Lines etched themselves into the back of it, forming a symbol of the Triforce. Link shot a surprised glance at Eriol's hand and found that his mark had darkened noticeably from gold to near black. A shadow? Did he give Eriol only a piece of the power the Triforce provided?

"I would not be so foolish," Ganon said, "as to entrust such power with such a useless, traitorous child!" He clenched his upraised fist.

Eriol's eyes went wide and he dropped his weapons, his hands reaching up and clawing at his throat. Link was moving before the impact of what Ganon was doing had fully sunken in. He dashed forward and snatched the Master Sword from where stood embedded in the ground in one smooth movement. "Let go of my brother!"

Ganon released Eriol and turned to face Link. From one voluminous sleeve a curved scimitar slid into his hand, materializing as if from nowhere. He swept it up in a diagonal parry, knocking Link's blow away. Link spun with the recoil and swept his sword down and then up to exposed side of the Evil King. Ganon brought his sword down upon it, forcing the blade back down – but once again Link moved with the recoil, this time slamming his shield across Ganon's back. The larger man stumbled forward and whirled around to meet Link's continuous assault.

"The wheels of fate are moving," Ganon hissed as he parried and blocked. "We were destined to meet once again on the battlefield, Hero."

"I don't know much about fate," Link growled as he ducked a slash at his neck. "All I know is that you failed once in trying to take over Hyrule, and you'll fail again!"

"Fail? I beg to differ. I conquered Hyrule, and was it not for the Hero's meddling with the time stream, I would still be ruling over it today!"

"Then I guess it's your fate to try and fail again!"

Link pressed forward and drove his sword towards Ganon's stomach. The Evil King brought his scimitar down atop Link's blade, driving it to the ground – but his attention was stolen by Eriol, who leapt in on Ganon's exposed left side, sword cutting downwards through the air. Ganon growled and flicked his empty left wrist, a scimitar sliding out of his sleeve and into his grasp. He parried Eriol's attack and took several steps backwards.

A momentary flash of lightning lit up the sky with a simultaneous crash of thunder. The storm seemed to be right above the battlefield, though the clouds had yet to unleash their rain.

Ganon panted and looked from one brother to the next. Link couldn't guess what he was thinking. He turned instead to Eriol. An unspoken agreement was shared and they both turned to Ganon, shifting into identical aggressive stances.

Ganon grinned, his eyes blazing beneath his thick brow. "Well… this should be interesting."

"SORYA!" Link and Eriol's voices shouted as one. In unison they dashed forward.

Ganon flicked his scimitars to the air, both blades slashing down at his attackers. Link whirled to his left while Eriol moved to his right, both blades darting in at his sides. Stepping forward, Ganon swung his blades under his arms and behind him, bracing their flat sides against his back as the two Hylian blades struck. The blades whipped out on either side of him as he whirled to face them, much like Link's spinning slash attack. Link and Eriol stepped back to avoid the blows.

Link darted in with a jab, but Ganon parried with his right blade and swung it around to attack Eriol, who just managed to raise his shield in time. Ganon stepped around the Hylian and slashed at Eriol's back with the left blade. Eriol moved with him and swung his sword around, the two blades meeting briefly and separating. Link stepped in at the point, renewing an assault on Ganon's left side.

The three of them danced around each other, exchanging blows and parries, but none could gain the upper hand. Despite Link and Eriol's best efforts, Ganon proved himself adept at battle, even when outnumbered. No serious blows were scored, though all three soon found their clothing torn from the whirling blades, blood drawn from shallow cuts and scrapes.

Link pulled back after another unsuccessful series of attacks. He's stronger than I thought… and from the way he's blocking and parrying, it seems like he's just trying to tire us out! If I can just get close enough… the Master Sword is supposed to have the power to seal him away. All I need is one good strike!

He glanced at Eriol, panting beside him. "I need to get in close. Think you can distract him long enough for me to score a hit?"

Eriol glanced at Link. "At this rate? I don't know… I'll try, but I'm not sure if I can."

"Try your best." Even if you can't… there might still be a way to get close enough…

Ganon leered at them, his lips twisted into a malicious grin. He was panting as well, but he looked livelier than both Link and his brother. "Well? Do you wish to continue, or will you get on your knees and beg for your lives?"

With a guttural roar of anger, Eriol charged forward. Ganon brought his right scimitar down to meet the attack, but Eriol knocked it aside with his shield. Eriol slashed his sword forward from the other direction but Ganon's other scimitar dropped down to parry it. Whirling around to the and pulling his blade free, Eriol stabbed at Ganon's back but the Evil King was already moving, this time using the back of one curved blade tip Eriol forward.

Eriol stumbled and caught a brief glimpse of the triumph on Ganon's face. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his body backwards and raised his shield to protect himself from the scimitar that fell at him from above. The blade struck the shield with enough force to send Eriol sprawling to the ground. He rolled onto his back and stared up as Ganon swept both blades down at him.

Link bellowed a Hylian war cry as he dashed towards Ganon's exposed back. Realizing his vulnerability, the Evil King spun around and stepped away from Eriol, his right blade arching through the air between him and his attacker. Link dropped low into a crouch as the blade cut through the air above him. Seizing his opportunity, he sprang forward, the tip of his blade aimed at Ganon's stomach. Ganon growled and brought his right blade back towards Link's exposed side.

There was a sickening sound as Link's blade pierced flesh. It did not slide forward as easily as it did when it cut into a monster's flesh, and there was no spray of blood. Instead, the wound smoked and sizzled. The Master Blade pulsed with a soft light, so some reaction had to have occurred. When Link raised his head to look at Ganon's face, though, he paled.

The Evil King was grinning.

"Surprised?" he hissed. "I cannot be struck down by the Master Sword unless the blade is at full strength. And I took steps to prevent that some time ago."

Without warning, he slammed his knee into Link's stomach. Link doubled over and gasped, and then Ganon's elbow crashed into his back, knocking him to the ground. A moment later, Link felt a warning spike though his mind. Ganon stood over him, his wound smoking, scimitars raised.

The earth suddenly buckled beneath them. Link rolled away from Ganon while the Evil King staggered backwards, a wall of dirt and rock rising from the ground between them. Eriol crouched nearby, his hand resting on the ground, the dark symbol of the Triforce visible.

"I may not have the real Triforce," Eriol muttered, "but its shadow will do perfectly fine!"

"How long will you persist in irritating me?" Ganon growled. The smoke curling away from his wound began to slowly dissipate.

Eriol ignored him and scrambled over to brother's side. "Link! Are you alright?"

Link nodded and slowly climbed to his feet. "Yeah… winded, that's all…"

"The legends… they never said the sword had to be at full power!" Eriol growled. "After he was freed, Ganon disappeared for a week or two… he must have done something to the temples that give the sword its powers. That's what the legends say, right? That the temples give the sword its powers?"

Link grunted. "You know just as much as I do about the legends, Eriol…"

Far behind them, a hollow bellow of a horn sounded out across the field, barely audible over the roar of battle. Link glanced over his shoulder and cursed. "That's Caleb's horn… he's sounding a retreat."

"Retreat?" Eriol glanced back at Ganon, who was watching them with grim amusement. "We can't just run away! If we take down Ganon, then his army won't have anyone to follow! We can end this war!"

Link shook his head. "We need to regroup. I'm sure we've lost a lot of allies in the field… and I don't know if we really can stop Ganon with the sword depowered."

Eriol seemed as if he were about to explode, but nodded. "Alright." He looked at the ring of Darknuts who had surrounded their makeshift dueling grounds. "It's going to be difficult to get to the Hylian lines…"

Link stood straighter and whirled his sword at his side. "Right. But dying here isn't an option." Link gave Ganon one last anger-filled glance. This isn't over…

The two brothers turned away from the Evil King and began to fight their way through the line of Darknuts.

--

Ganondorf observed his enemies as they fled, the wound in his stomach aching horrible. The Hero did not realize just how much that sword had hurt. It was a lucky thing that Ganondorf had…disabled… two of the temples that gave the sword its powers.

It seems luck is on my side, he thought as he turned his gaze to the blood-stained blade he had struck Link with. The Hero will fall and Hyrule will soon be mine.

Ganondorf lifted his face to the sky and closed his eyes. Lightning and thunder roared above.

Yes… Hyrule will soon be mine…