A/N: Violence warning. I'll put this at the top of each chapter of the final battle because it does last for more than just this one chapter.
When Link had gone into his first battle, only about fifteen years old, he'd realized a few things very quickly.
First, the stories the men and women told when they returned were highly exaggerated and glorified. When he heard soldiers describe their best kill, it was a description of monsters and men, of heroes and villains, of bravery and valor. But when he'd been thrown into Hyrule Field or the first time to defend against a massive moblin raid, he found that the stories were only what people wished had happened. He'd fought, of course, but he'd also run, dodged, been thrown down into the mud and nearly killed by the massive force of a brute moblin whose teeth dripped with the blood of someone else. It had only been sheer luck that he'd avoided a swift death, but it was skill that had saved him. Yet when he told people that story, he told it it much simpler: 'my first kill in battle was a moblin.'
The second thing he'd learned was that all the training in the world couldn't have prepared him for how fast the world moved. He'd been crashed against by others far more than his sword had hit anyone else. His feet had rarely been solid on the ground as he'd fumbled for sturdy footing. Off balance, he'd taken a hit that sent him to the ground, disoriented and unable to function.
The final thing he'd learned while he was still young was that everything was a weapon, not just the one in his hand. He learned it quickly, especially when enemies had tried to use him as a shield, pushing him into his own people as he desperately clung to his blade to try to prevent accidental injuries. It took him another year or two to be able to figure it out how to manage to implement that for himself.
So, in the claustrophobic mass of soldiers and creatures that now surrounded him on Hyrule Field, Link had already been trained to know what to do, and he was very good at his job.
Dodging to the side of a falling bokoblin, he picked up its fallen sword and lodged it into the nearest soldier wearing Ganondorf's armor, not waiting to see if they had perished. There was no time for waiting. Standing still was the fastest way to die.
He moved toward the castle, as his entire group had been instructed to do, but getting there was still a challenge in itself. Time stood still for him, meaning nothing other than a movement of shadows that he had to constantly adjust to. All he knew was that time was passing, but he didn't know how long he'd fought, nor did he care.
His sword stretched out just in time to block a blade that was aimed at his neck. He rolled into the soldier to keep away from the blade before flipping his own sword into his right hand with artful precision before jamming it past his hip to a soldier behind him, straight through the soldier's shattered chainmail and up through his stomach. Always moving, never stopping, Link pushed his way through without looking back.
He felt a sharp sting across his cheek and a whoosh of air pass his ear. Grabbing the nearest lizafols by the collar, he yanked it protectively in front of him, feeling the thunk of another arrow pierce the lizafols and hit harmlessly against his own armor. He moved forward, dragging the creature's corpse as a shield, and finally threw it to the ground when he reached the soldier with the bow. Slamming his sword down into the soldier, the slice took her arms clean off. Little harm that soldier could do without arms, Link threw her into another of Ganondorf's people off to his left, and the momentum gave one of his own an opening to kill his opponent.
It had taken years to learn how to filter out the screams that bombarded his hearing. With every sense on overload, it made killing easier and harder.
He'd hear the screams of a dying soldier, but if he focused too hard on it, he'd remember that it was the noise of a human, of someone who might have a family, or who was fighting for what they believed was right. If he stared at their dead body too long, he'd remember that he'd done that, that he'd been the one to end a life forever.
But it wasn't something he could tune out entirely. That same shriek echoed through his right ear, but it wasn't someone dying, it was someone trying to kill him.
Momentum and adrenaline are funny things. They move the body, the mouth, the lungs, the vocal chords. So the scream that drove a soldier forward with all the energy and power they had inside them also alerted Link to their presence.
He ducked just in time for them to topple over his back and land on the ground where Link plunged his sword through the soldier's neck and moved on.
The closer to the castle he got, the more bodies were littered on the ground, trapping free movement. They'd all moved in close to each other for this very reason, and it prevented Link and the others from continuing normally.
He heard the simultaneous release of hundreds of arrows and saw many headed through the air at him.
With a curse, he threw himself to the ground and heaved a dead body over him, blocking the arrows as they landed all around him and lodged in the fleshy shield he used atop him. When they'd stopped, he hurried to his feet and grabbed the nearest helmet and shield, moving as fast as he could across the graveyard of bodies while avoiding the volley of arrows.
Breathing a sigh of relief as he passed out of range of the archers, he continued on until he felt something catch on his boot, tugging him back. He lost his footing, and his chin crashed into the ground before he turned to see what he was caught on. But it was a wounded soldier on the ground, holding on to him, trying to jamb a knife through Link's leg. Link tried to kick out, to lodge the heel of his boot into the soldier's face, but it only offered an opening for the other soldier. His knife skimmed across the back of Link's leg, right in the gap where his armor was strapped to his skin rather than covering it.
But Link felt someone pulling him to his feet and was met with the face of a stranger, one of Daltus' soldiers. She stomped her boot into the enemy's face, only to turn and meet a serrated sword.
Link stumbled away as the largest dinofols he'd ever seen screeched into the air. He wasn't even sure it was a dinofols.
The creature had the same basic appearance of any one of the creatures, but it was double in size with sharp claws poking out behind every knuckle that each looked sharper than a sword. It had spikes along its spine, and its skin appeared to be made of plaited metal.
With a string of curses, Link debated simply running away. This thing was massive. But he looked at the gate to the castle where a large battle in itself was happening. The gate still wasn't open, and if he drew the enemy over there, they'd all die. And if he left, the creature would surely head towards them next. It left him with no other option.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, he clutched his sword and waited, watching the enemy, dodging, studying its every move as he stayed on the defensive. He wasn't sure what it was, let alone how it fought. Thankfully, even Ganondorf's other troops seemed frightened of getting in its way, and they made no attempt to get even close to either of them.
Link finally found several weak points to the creature: loose plates under its arms, its face when it tilted up seemed unprotected, its hands where the claws weren't in the way. So, like a good soldier who'd been trained not to fear death but embrace it, he charged into the beast with a cry, hacking away at its thick skin before sliding backwards, dodging a swipe of its claw. Rolling to avoid its massive tail shaped like a mace with sharp points in every direction before he could make it in close enough for a few hits, only to be forced to back away again.
Link's throat was burning, dry from how hard he was breathing, but he continued fighting until he felt himself lifted into the air, his sides being brutally crushed, sword discarded in the sharp motion of being hoisted up.
He let out a harsh cry, specifically feeling his already unhealed ribs creaking. From where the creature was holding him by his chestplate, Link's body slunk down, his throat caught on his metal collar, choking him as if he were on a noose.
He writhed, trying to kick out, to reach any part of the creature, but it wasn't working. His hand fumbled around his belt until he felt his knife. Keeping that tight in his grip, he tried to stab at the creature's hands, but it barely made a dent, hitting against the sharp skin again and again all the while bouncing back like a spring.
Black was surrounding Link's vision, but he had just enough air and brain power left for one final, desperate move. He reached behind himself and ran the knife along his armor's straps, cutting clean through. Link's arm dropped out of the strap, and it shifted the armor just enough that the creature was surprised, which loosened its grip and allowed Link to pull his other arm out straight through the armor. He landed hard on the ground, arching up at the pain in his back before gasping for air several times. Winded, he rolled over and crawled away from the confused creature, covering his ribs with one hand and slinking along with his other until he had put a decent distance between them.
He went to get to his feet, but something was against him, holding him down on the ground, covering his body.
As he went to push it off, he stopped.
Ashei.
"Stay down!" she hissed, pushing his head into the dirt as she covered him.
He watched as a bombardment of arrows flew over their heads, lodging into the creature. Its screech tore through the air, trying to pull several of the arrows out.
"Go!" Ashei said, pulling Link to his feet and dragging him behind her to safety as she passed about fifteen of her warriors who were running for the creature. She didn't let Link go until he was against the wall that surrounded Hyrule castle, and he noticed that the gate was flung open, troops pouring in.
A wall of soldiers moved to cover Link and Ashei, but the next person he saw offered even more guards to protect them.
"Princess Zelda wouldn't like that you got yourself injured," Shad muttered, looking at Link's bleeding cheek from the arrow. "This one looks fine. Where did that creature thing get you?"
It hurt to breathe, but Link lifted his chainmail and shirt to look at his ribs. His entire side was black and blue with a deep, painful bruise. There was a puncture wound that led to a deep scratch, and Link realized that his armor had to have bent into him and raked down as he fell. Shad winced in phantom pain for Link as he dug into his bag.
Ashei muttered something to one of her troops before bending down to Link. "Thank you. I saw you holding that thing off of us. I have to go back, but they're getting you a new piece of armor. Move inside when you can."
"Thank you, Commander," he breathed. She nodded and hurried away.
Shad watched Link's face contort in pain as he pressed on his side, testing his ribs in a few places before digging in his bag again.
Link sat up as the soldier Ashei had sent out returned to him. "Sir! Here you go." She handed Link a new chestplate and sword.
"Thank you."
Shad handed Link a small vial. "Here, this is a small concentration of potion. It won't heal your ribs, but it should lower the pain for some time. Take a second one just in case."
Downing it in a quick swig, Link welcomed the liquid in his throat, pretending it was water. "Okay." He tucked his spare potion into his belt and pulled the armor around him, ensuring it was just a little tighter than usual to protect his ribs. And picking up the sword, he rose to his feet, leaning against the wall for one more moment to catch his breath.
"Here we go again."
Following Ashei's troops past the gates, he was met by the looming castle doors at the end of a long courtyard. It had become a battlefield, but he could see that it had once been a beautifully cared-for lawn.
But as he looked at the door, his heart sank and he made his way to the side of the castle. Glancing around, he saw that the area was clear enough to offer him one moment. He looked up at four cages, gibbets with three skeletons inside, dressed in bloody garments that had been torn up by birds and worn by the weather. And in the first one that he could see, dangling off one of the bodies was a crown.
He remembered Zelda's breakdown in the cemetery so long ago. "I want to bury them! I want them to rest with the Goddess! But no, their bodies are on display for the birds and ghosts of Castle Town."
"Oh gods," he muttered, not realizing that every time she'd mentioned it, she'd been literal. And he closed his eyes. "Goddess, please don't let her see this."
Backing away, Link rejoined the other troops without looking back, taking down the last of the resistance at the courtyard door with the other soldiers.
Though Link had been inside the castle once before—the day he'd gotten himself thrown into the dungeons—he remembered very little of it. But looking around, it didn't seem like something that Zelda would have lived in. There was something decidedly dark about it.
After fighting through several of Ganondorf's troops, he found a secluded corner to catch his breath in and to give himself a once-over. He'd gotten a few minor scrapes, and the wounds on his face and leg had already dried out. He was far more concerned with his ribs and the numerous bruises he sustained.
But he felt the ground shake beneath his feet, and he looked around, making sure the castle wasn't crumbling. There was no sign of it, but the second echoing boom with a following quake had him confused, though he decided it was best to just ignore it unless he had to pay attention.
"Find him!" he heard Ashei scream. "Kill the usurper!"
He caught sight of Finn and fought his way across the entry room to join up with the other two.
"Any plans?" Link asked, turning to Ashei.
"Take every room of this place until he's cornered and killed."
Link patted Finn on the shoulder, heading for the stairway when another of those creatures burst through the courtyard door, throwing a corpse from its mouth and brushing a second off its claws.
"Shit," Link muttered, readjusting his grip on his sword. His ribs almost hurt at the sight of it.
"Flank it!" Ashei commanded.
Both Finn and Link hurried to get on either side of the creature while Ashei took it from the front, all three quickly dividing its attentions.
Even with three people, the creature didn't go down with ease. It picked Finn up by the back of his armor, and Link knew all too well that Finn would quickly start to choke. He ducked under a swing of its arm and jabbed his sword into the creature's arm. At the same time, Ashei skidded between its legs and sliced its tail clean off. It threw Finn, but he was simply stunned rather than injured, unable to make his way to his feet.
"Back, back!" she called to them, reminding Link to take the creature's other side.
They fought harder, and Link ended up trapped on the inside of the creature, too close and unsafe. He lifted his sword just in time to avoid a claw piercing straight through his eye, though his blade ended up caught between two of the creature's claws. Before the other hand could reach for him, Link rolled over the creature's arm, keeping a tight hold of the trapped sword so that the creature's wrist twisted backwards. It flailed, and Link's sword snapped, still stuck between claws before being elbowed directly over his ribs, sending him backwards with a sharp cry of pain.
Ashei moved in, managing a clean slice straight across the distracted creature's chest. Its screech echoed through the entryway. Its attention was still on Link, though, remembering his face more clearly, and Ashei took full advantage, reaching up and lodging her sword in its shoulder blade, pulling down until its arm came clean off.
Enraged, in pain, and dying, the creature reached to pull Ashei away from it, grabbing her.
But it didn't grab her. It impaled her over two of its massive claws.
"Ashei!" Link and Finn screamed, forcing their bodies to get to her.
Blood pooled from her mouth as she was raised up to the creature's eye level, the motion pushing her deeper onto the claws. She spat the blood from her mouth onto the creature and used the rest of her strength to push her sword down hard across its neck, leaving a long line of spewing blood before its arm went slack and she fell straight off.
"Ashei," Link said as he and Finn tried to cover her wounds. Shad ran in with the area clear and took one look at Ashei before shaking his head.
"Put… put her on t-the throne," she whispered before her head lolled limply to the side and a steady stream of blood ran from her mouth.
Silence filled the room as the soldiers from outside poured in and looked at the two massive pools of blood that drowned both the creature and Ashei. Then, the soldiers turned to Link, their eyes wide and unsure.
"Commander?" one asked, turning to Link. "What do we do?"
He shook his head and had to look away from her mangled body. "You heard her orders. Clear out this whole damn castle and kill the usurper. Half take the east wing with Finn, the rest of you, you're with me."
