Ganondorf

Once the carriage had stopped, Hyrold was stirred from his sleep by one of his protectors. Sitting up straight, he awaited Impa's signal that it was safe to exit their confinement. The king was uncertain how long he had slept for, but the stillness of the knights suggested him that they had remained awake and alert the entire journey. Perhaps conversed on personal matters without anyone to impress at the time, maybe even joked about the mumblings of the sleeping monarch. He decided not to judge them for this assumption. Their loyalty and service earned them the right to some measure of amusement, so long as they performed their duty. The sound of three knocks resounded from the carriage door. Impa's signal. One of the knights opened it and exited, followed by the second. Once their safety was ascertained, Hyrold followed them outside, into the cold rocky wasteland.

Impa led the way over the treacherous terrain. The party remained silent as they navigated the uneven stone expanse stretching across every direction and disappearing into the horizon. There was nothing else to see between this grey canvas and the cloud-coated sky, save for Ganondorf's keep. An imposing obsidian tower stretching almost as high as the clouds themselves, the tower's walls were impossibly smooth, save for well-distanced windows for use by archers. The pair of doors serving as the only entrance was guarded by a pair of Bokoblins. Short, red-skinned barbarians with pig-like snouts, a single horn sprouting from their scalps and adorned in only loincloths. They both held a spear and wooden shield each, slouching against the wall. Hyrold never understood why such creatures would obey Ganondorf, let alone anyone, but then he was a man of many secrets. The doors opened at the party's approach, startling the Bokoblins. The king and his companions stood at attention as their host stepped out to greet them. He was a Gerudo, grey-skinned with red hair and beard and standing at 9ft tall at least. He was clad in onyx armour beneath similarly coloured robes and his expression was one of passive expectation.
"Welcome, my liege." Ganondorf started as he bowed slightly and quickly.
"You were expecting me, then?" Hyrold asked, unease creeping into his tone. This was not his first visit to this dark place, yet it remained the only location to truly strike fear in his heart.
"But of course." Ganondorf replied. "By now, you should know that nothing can be hidden from me. Not if I have a mind to know it."
"Then you know the purpose of our presence here?" Impa asked almost accusingly. Ganondorf raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"I suggest you remember where you are." He warned. "The Sheikah Clan may have influence in Hyrule, but you have no power in my domain." As he spoke, Impa's hand went to the handle of her dagger. Ganondorf parted his robe slightly, revealing the hilt of his sword hanging from his belt. The Bokoblins smiled as they lowered their spears.
"Enough!" Hyrold interjected. "We came for answers, not for petty bickering." Impa released her weapon and nodded in silent apology. The Bokoblins groaned in disappointment as Ganondorf hid his sword once more.
"Forgive my hasty reaction." He stated. "You want information, and I may have answers. Enter." On this last word, he turned and walked back into the tower. The knights stood in triangular formation around the king and Impa led them inside.

If the exterior of the keep was a daunting sight, the interior was somehow more foreboding. The air was unnaturally warm, yet the walls of the hall were very cold to the touch. Hyrold suspected some sort of sorcery in place to maintain such temperature to the comfort of its master. He could hardly remain in the desert region he once called home, not since his banishment by his fellow Gerudo. Hyrold had to supress a shudder as the group entered the main hall of the keep and were met with Ganondorf's collection. He was, by his own admittance, something of an antiquarian, researching the dark arts and forgotten histories of the world while collecting forbidden relics he deemed relevant to his investigations.
"Feel free to take a look around." Ganondorf suggested. "There is a matter I must conclude quickly, if you would excuse me. I'm afraid you caught me at an inconvenient time." Without waiting for an answer, he had already departed. Hyrold chose to ignore this impertinence. The master of this keep was never one for the formalities the king was used to. Impa's disdain was etched quite clearly on her face as she absorbed the sight of these artifacts. There was a broken black sword, one that looked much too large even for its current owner to wield. A purple heart-shaped mask bearing a pair of circular orange eyes and spikes around its edges. A book locked by a padlock and wrapped in a chain. A grey horn-shaped stone Impa suspected to have been part of a large stone helmet. Supposedly, each of these relics once contained terrible power and malice in the past. Impa noticed the grave look the king gave her and she knew what it was about.
"I have heard rumours about such a collection." Impa spoke to him quietly. "It is said that Ganondorf's fixation and research on forgotten evils are what led to the Gerudo exiling him to these wastelands."
"I have heard such things myself." Hyrold responded. "For a species comprising almost entirely of women, they seemed strangely willing to cast out an asset as precious as a potential sire."
"Yet still you sought him out?" Although she maintained a professional demeanour, Impa could not entirely conceal her own disapproval.
"I cannot afford not to." The king told her. "Since my daughter's birth, you took every opportunity to warn me of her destiny, of what that wretched mark on her hand meant. I need to know what must be done." Before Impa could respond, Ganondorf had returned.

"Now what brings you all the way out to my humble abode?" Ganondorf asked, almost too casually. "As I understand it, today is your princess' eighteenth birthday? I suspect you are not missing such festivities for the sake of a friendly visit?"
"Of course not." Hyrold answered, deciding to get straight to the point. "She was born with a very…specific birthmark. The symbol of the Triforce, right there on the back of her hand." Ganondorf looked away from the king, stroking his beard as he considered this information.
"And I take it something has changed today?" He inquired, turning towards one of his exhibits.
"Yes, it seems to have become…clearer." The king continued "Less faded than it was. And furthermore…" He hesitated, prompting Ganondorf to turn back towards him.
"Yes?"
"There is someone else with the same mark." There was a moment of silence as he said this, at which point, Impa noticed what he was looking at. Within a large glass case stood a suit of armour, not dissimilar to that worn by the Knights of Hyrule. But there was something she found sinister about it. The armour was far too tall for any Hylian to wear and it was comprised of a jet-black metal with no reflection, despite its polished sheen. A pair of horns sprouted from the helmet above the Y-shaped visor. As she took a closer look, Impa could see what appeared to be runes carved into the chestplate and gauntlets, although she could not read them.
"May I ask who?" His tone was one of plain curiosity, but something was certainly urging the king not to tell him anymore. Something he could not make sense of and so ignored.
"A knight, newly sworn in." He explained. "He's a friend of my daughter's. Larkin's boy, in fact."
"Larkin?" the Gerudo's interest peaked quickly. "The deserter?"
"There was more to it than that." Hyrold responded defensively. "Larkin feared for his involvement in what the Sheikah had prophesised. He left his post and took the boy into the lost forest. Now, I do not know whether it was to prepare him or conceal him, but… "
"Irrelevant." Ganondorf interrupted. "So, this boy knows nothing of the Phantoms, I take it?"
"No. Larkin died to sickness some time after he departed." As the king spoke, Impa's eyes were drawn to the ground. Only she seemed to notice the rhythmic sound coming from beneath their feet. "I'm uncertain as to how long he resided in the forest by himself, but he submitted himself for knight training shortly after I told him of his father."
"But not why he grew up alone in the wilderness?"
"How could I? I myself do not know the answer."
"And why tell me of this?"
"Because you know things nobody should know." Hyrold explained. "If the Phantoms are returning, and my daughter and this boy are involved, we need to know what must be done to stop them." Impa focused on the sound and realised it sounded like marching.
"Yes, I see now why you would come to me." Ganondorf responded, turning his back once more, now facing the doors. "Dark Knights, some would have called them. Malevolence given form and clad in unbreakable armour. It is said the goddess Hylia herself was the one who exiled them from the world, including their king. Some…realm of emptiness beyond the understanding of gods."
"How can they be fought, then?" Hyrold's impatience was growing rapidly even as he asked. "If they are coming back, how can this be prevented?" Impa had stopped listening at this point, having placed all her focus on the marching. She realised that the sound was ascending, coming towards them. Towards the doors of the hall.
"My king!" Impa shouted as the doors burst open. The knights quickly surrounded Hyrold and drew their swords. From the doorway emerged three very tall, armour-clad figures.
"You cannot prevent what has already happened, your majesty." Ganondorf stated with a smile, standing aside for the figures to march forward. Impa immediately recognised their armour. The pitch-black runic plating. the horned helmets.

Phantoms.

"What manner of treachery is this?" Hyrold bellowed, drawing his own sword. Glass shattered behind them as the armour Impa observed barged out of the case, black sword in hand.
"Exactly what you feared to happen." Ganondorf taunted before turning to the Phantoms. "Take the king alive. Do as you will with the rest." With no acknowledgement to be seen or heard, the Phantoms each clenched a hand into a fist and a black vapor swirled around and above their hands, coming together and forming swords as black as their armour. One of the knights raised his shield to block the lead Phantom's first strike. Rather than bounce off the shield, the blade cleaved through as though there was nothing. The knight let out only a choked gasp before collapsing, preceded by his severed arm and both halves of his shield. Stunned by the grisly scene, Hyrold was ushered back by the remaining two knights. One of them, shouting in rage, charged forward and swung his sword to the Phantom's neck. It only stood still as the blade harmlessly passed through where its throat should have been, and the knight was given no time to register his own surprise before another Phantom stabbed him through the back. As Impa stared, she looked closely at the first Phantom's neck and saw the truth. There was no neck there, or any exposed skin or chainmail in the joints of their armour. She could only see what appeared to be black smoke funnelling between the armour pieces. Where there should be elbows and knees was only these dark vapours, somehow bending slightly in accordance with the positions of their limbs.
"Run." Hyrold instructed Impa, who had drawn a pair of daggers. She turned towards him in confusion. "They want me alive, not you. Return to Hyrule! Warn them of what has…"
Before Hyrold could finish his command, the final knight cried out as one of the Phantoms struck at his leg, bringing him to one knee. In desperation, he swung a punch towards one, only for it to catch his fist. In its grip, a dark purple substance began to envelop his hand and creep over his arm. The knight panicked as he realised that he could no longer move this arm at all. He never noticed the Phantom bringing its sword down on his neck, severing his head.
"Go! Now!" Hyrold commanded. Reluctantly, Impa dashed past the Phantoms, rolling beneath one's sword and leaping through the doorway as another tried to grab her. She broke into a sprint, forcing herself not to look back.
"No matter." Ganondorf commented. "The Sheikah cannot stop what is coming." He approached the king with his hands clasped behind his back. Hyrold dropped his sword and raised his hands in surrender.
"What is the meaning of this, Ganondorf?" the king demanded. "What do you hope to gain from whatever alliance you have forged?" The Gerudo smiled as he began to remove the straps of his right gauntlet.
"You have no idea what she is, do you?" He asked mockingly. "Why your daughter is marked. What that boy has to do with this." He removed his gauntlet and held his hand up so the king could see, clear as day, the mark of the triforce on the back of his hand. "The three of us have such history, spanning lifetimes and ages past, bound together by an ancient curse."
"What are you talking about?" Hyrold struggled to keep the fear out of his voice. Whatever answer he would receive would occupy no corner of his mind. His thoughts now turned only to Hyrule. To his beloved queen and their precious daughter. To the horrors the Phantoms would unleash upon them.
"I would not expect you to understand, or anyone for that matter." As Ganondorf spoke, the gloating seemed to have left his demeanour. Now, anger seemed to be smouldering within. "Your child would not remember. Neither would that wretched boy. But I never forgot. And I never forgave."