Chapter 48: Betrayal and Revenge
Ereb leaped to Link's side. The dondogos hissed viciously. Big Brother cried out and fell to the ground. Gar-Mallig shouted something, and tackled Bor-Felig. The dondogos attacked.
Link swung his sword in a wide arc, slicing through one dondogo's face. Blood flew. The dondogo collapsed to the floor, and immediately, three others began to devour its corpse. Using their momentary distraction to his advantage, Link stabbed one.
The other dondogos backed off a bit, and then rushed forward with a roar. Link was overwhelmed, and several passed him. Ereb was cornered by another four.
"Brother! To me!" shouted Gar-Mallig, charging forward. Using the massive strength of his momentum, he knocked two of the dondogos aside. He grabbed another by the tail, and whirled it into yet another as easily as if it had been a blanket.
Link ran to help Ereb, sword swinging in wide arcs. Ereb, heartened by Link's arrival, attacked with renewed strength. Dondogos fell.
Suddenly, there was a growl like thunder, echoing through the cavern. The dondogos squealed in fright, and fled.
Link and Ereb stood side by side. They had no idea what to expect. Gar-Mallig spoke. "Bor-Felig is dead. He murdered Big Brother."
Link and Ereb had not seen what happened. The shock of the Goron's words left them dumbfounded.
But there was no time to mourn. A shadow fell upon the chamber. Link looked up. He screamed…
Ganondorf's army returned to the Castle. It was late in the night, and Sleggnin was terrified by the prospect of reporting to Ganondorf.
The Rebels had, seemingly, vanished into thin air.
The army had reached the camp, prepared for a slaughter, and though the trees all about it were torched, and there was much evidence of the camp, the Rebels themselves were nowhere to be found.
But when the Bokoblin General arrived in the throne room to make his report, the King had also vanished.
Suddenly, there was a shout. "Attack! To the walls! To the walls!"
Sleggnin sprinted outside and climbed the wall. He was shocked to see an army already at the foot of the wall, raising ladders…
A massive beast was falling from somewhere far above.
The survivors scattered, and it landed on its feet heavily with a deafening roar. Link was stunned by its size. It looked like a titanic dondogo.
"Run!" cried Ereb, and sped to the door. Link followed, with Gar-Mallig and Fal-Doblid close behind. The beast turned towards them and swiped out with its huge claws, killing Fal-Doblid in mid run.
Gar-Mallig put on a burst of speed, and slammed into the door with all his strength. It gave slightly. Link and Ereb frantically pushed with him, but to no avail. The door would not open.
The beast roared again, and lashed out with its long tail. "Duck!" shouted Link, and they dropped to the floor as the powerful tail flew at their heads.
It slammed into the door, which was pushed open.
The three companions scrambled to their feet and through the doorway before the monster could strike again. They ran through a tunnel until they could run no more.
They heard another deafening roar, and then all was silent.
Ganondorf was below the Castle in the secret room, planning his next move.
He loved this room. It was far beneath the Castle, and no outside sound could penetrate its silence, making it perfect for thinking.
He had found more than the Forbidden Power when he had lit the final lantern in the cave…
The three companions wept in the dark acceptance of the tunnel.
They had lost Big Brother, a great leader, warrior, and friend. Gar-Mallig told Link and Ereb what had happened.
"Bor-Felig broke Big Brother's neck. He must have seen an opportunity to attack in the confusion, and took it. Big Brother died almost immediately. I saw what happened, and leaped at the traitor. I broke Bor-Felig's neck, as he had broken Big Brother's. Now both are dead."
He collapsed into large Goron tears. Ereb moved closer to the weeping Goron, tears in his own eyes, and put a hand on the hard shoulder.
Link recovered first, to his own surprise. Big Brother's death was tragic and painful, but he saw the end in sight. The end of the killing, the end of the tragedies, the end of the war.
And in that he was able to push away his grief, at least for now. He drew his sword, and helped Ereb and Gar-Mallig to their feet. "We need to keep moving. We are almost there."
He turned to Gar-Mallig. "You are the heir to the leadership of Gorons. You will lead us, Big Brother."
And upon hearing his new name, the new Big Brother's eyes flashed. In the face of this dark new reality, he too was able to push past his grief. There was work to do. He nodded at Link, and looked at Ereb. Ereb was already drying his tears, and drawing his sword.
"Let's go." He said.
Ganondorf suddenly felt a strange foreboding. He stood, and disappeared from the secret room.
The Rebels poured over the walls, slaughtering Ganondorf's troops as they came. The wall was taken in minutes, and then the army advanced into the market place. Three Zoras ran to the gate and opened it, admitting the rest of the Rebel army before joining them in the charge through the Castle.
Sleggnin's body lay across the wall in a pool of blood. Ganondorf's army was again leaderless.
"To me! To me!" bellowed a Moblin. The rest of the army rushed to him, and under his leadership, rushed at the Rebels. The two forces met in the marketplace with a colossal crash.
Chaos reigned. Swords clashed. Spears stabbed. Armor rang. Hurt soldiers cried out. Dead fell. Heads toppled to the ground. Bodies dropped. Eyes blazed. Voices shouted.
The battle for Hyrule had begun…
Zelda, Elnor and Old Majora entered the Castle through the gate. The decision had been made swiftly, and the attack was a surprise enough to make a huge impact. The Rebel army, weakened as it was from the previous battle and outnumbered, was overpowering the stronger, larger army of Ganondorf.
Zelda found herself hoping that Link would arrive soon…
Ganondorf appeared in the throne room. He was shocked to hear a din of battle outside. Stepping towards the door, he was about to vanish, when he heard something.
He turned slowly around. There was a loud click. A wall nearby slowly rumbled open, revealing a dark passage beyond. Shocked, he could only stare dumbly into the revealed passage.
The Sacred Chamber?
And then, out of the darkness stepped a being.
It was a being Ganondorf had seen many times before. It was a being he had ruined, a being he had destroyed.
It was a being with a shining sword, blazing eyes, tight jaw, clad in green, and accompanied by two followers.
And the green clad being spoke. It was the same voice Ganondorf knew, yet there was, somehow, a change. This voice was no longer the voice of a squire. No longer the voice of a Knight. No longer the voice of a boy, or of a man, or even of a human.
It was a voice channeled through the ages, a voice his father had heard so long before.
It was the voice of the Hero.
And it said, "Draw your swords, Ganondorf, you'll need them."
And then the being, the Knight, the Boy, the Hero, wielding a blade of great Power, a blade that had slain Ganondorf's father, a blade that had defeated the Darkness of the distant past, stepped forward.
Ganondorf drew his swords. The fire of his eyes did not blaze; it flickered weakly in the presence of the raging inferno of the Hero's eyes.
The Traitor took a step forward as well.
The Hero saluted him with his sword. Ganondorf, will slowly strengthening again, returned the gesture. The two forces, Hero and Dark Power, assumed combat stances. Then there was total stillness.
And it seemed to the eyes of Ereb that the light of the throne room was changing around the two. Darkness surrounded Ganondorf, enveloped him, penetrated him, strengthened him.
And Link was surrounded by a light. Was enveloped, penetrated by, and strengthened by a light.
Then Ereb and Big Brother saw, as if in a vision, two other great beings in the room.
The Ghost King, clad in shining armor, gripping a brilliant white sword, stood above Link. And above Ganondorf was a dark beast, a powerful being of shadow, with a notched, blackened blade.
And then, the vision passed, and Hero and Dark Power clashed.
