Chapter 6
Link rose from his sleep before anyone else the next day. There had been no nightmares, but he wanted to see how badly Hyrule had been destroyed, and also how hard Hyrule would have to fight.
So he dressed in his normal clothes and put on his Master Sword and Hylian Shield. His other shield, the Mirror Shield, was also with his belongings, just in case for some reason the other wore out. Zelda had also supplied everyone with small machetes, knives, and swords the night before. There weren't enough shields to go around, but those who knew magic could use it.
After getting ready, Link stepped out into the cool, and what he saw horrified him. There didn't seem to be any signs of life other than the races inside the castle. Trees were torn down or burned, and the grass was mangy and dry and dead. The sky was now pitch black: there were stars or sun or anything. Link wondered where the goddesses were at times like this.
In the distance Link saw a tornado-like wind moving closer and closer to the castle. Ganondorf's power, Link realized in fear. The dark Gerudo was obviously even more powerful than he was before. Link was scared. Hyrule's undersized army would have to fight harder than ever before.
Closing his eyes, Link tried to remember a time when everything had been okay. It wasn't hard. Ganondorf's reincarnation had happened so fast, it seemed. Less than a week ago everything had been wonderful, perfect. Now it was the opposite.
Link came back to life when he heard the distant cry of a monster. He didn't know what kind yet, and right now he didn't want to find out. So he ran back to the castle, panicked.
"Get up!" he shouted. "Ganondorf is coming. He has an army of monsters. We must hurry!"
All around the races were preparing themselves. Those who knew magic, including Link, put protective spells on the weaker warriors. The few women that were fighting had the strongest protective spells on them, including Zelda, who wore simple fighting clothes: a black dress that was one of a peasant and a dark green cloak. Her hair was unbrushed, but right now none of that mattered. What mattered was staying alive for as long as possible.
Zelda spoke to Link. "How hard will we have to fight?" she demanded.
Link stared into her eyes. "Hard," was all he said.
A few minutes later he found Darunia coaching some of his Gorons. "You know some of your people will die," Link explained softly, trying not to upset the Goron king.
"I know," Darunia responded. "But we are strong fighters and if we do die, it is for the good of Hyrule. It would be an honor to die for our country."
Beaming with Hylian pride, Link patted Darunia on the arm and moved on. Everyone had agreed that few Zoras should fight and that the most skilled healers should stay inside curing those who were hurt. "That takes away from our army," Link told King Elion.
"I know," Elion admitted. "But it's for the best. You must trust me. Today, we all have to trust each other. Hyrule must come together."
Soon enough, everyone was prepared. Link had butterflies of terror in his stomach: he just had a feeling something bad, maybe even awful, was going to happen.
The army marched across Hyrule Field, fearless and solid, well-fed and well- rested, tenacious and loyal. King Elion was the leader, followed closely by his most trusted advisors and then the Gorons. Link and the other Hylians were close behind them, followed by the Zoras.
"You scared?" Zelda asked him.
Link couldn't lie to her anymore than he already had. He nodded.
Her eyes blazed with zeal. "Don't be."
An enormous figure loomed in the near distance, and Link new it was Ganondorf, bigger and more powerfully dominant then ever. He was so tall his head seemed to touch the sky, and he wore strong dark Gerudo armor. As they got closer, Link easily saw that Ganondorf was still only half human Gerudo. His other half was...well, a monster.
Link paused not far from where Ganondorf was standing. The horrible creature seemed to be gaining on them every minute. Link's heart was pounding in his chest, so loud he worried someone would hear it. He glanced around fearfully. Zelda was to his right and Darunia was at his left. They reassured him that when they chose to attack, they would do it right. Zelda clutched at her sword, her grip so tight her knuckles went white.
Link wished so badly that he could turn around and tell everyone to fight like they'd never fought before, that there was nothing to lose. But so much could be lost. Everything could be lost. Link didn't want to risk anything.
It had been easier before, when it was solely his responsibility. Everyone else had been able to hide and protect themselves. Don't worry, good old Link would take care of it. Save Hyrule? No problem. He hadn't minded. He still didn't. This was his life. Only this time there was a burden. People he loved were going to lose their lives. It was inevitable.
An idea flashed through his mind. Link spun around said, "Attack from behind."
Zelda looked at him, puzzled. "What? Attack from...what?"
Link nodded. "Some of us can get him from behind. Yes, it'll all work. Okay. Our strongest fighters can sneak behind that wall and get him from behind, because remember last time when his tail was his weak point? I bet it still is."
Zelda was shaking her head, but Link kept going. "And the rest of us, we'll create a diversion in front of him. He'll be distracted. He's a monster, how hard can it be? No beast is ever that smart."
The princess shrugged. "Fine. I'll go spread the word. Let's just hope my father approves."
Link gulped at the thought of challenging King Elion's plans.
A ripple of excitement passed through the crowd. The people were approving. Link gave a tiny smile. Zelda was talking to her father now. He nodded and flashed Link a bright, hopeful grin of anticipation. Encouraged, Link grinned back.
Link watched the Gorons curl and roll themselves to behind Ganondorf. Ganondorf's own army surrounded him thickly on his sides and in front of him, but only two or three were behind, guarding him. They'd be simple to defeat.
Link felt a burst of adrenaline and Zelda was back at his side. She looked at him and said, "Let's do this."
The energy was flowing freely now. Link hugged Zelda tight now, and kissed her hair before releasing her and moving forward.
Zelda spontaneously went behind a tree and snapped off a thick branch before scrambling up what looked like the last tree in Hyrule. She caught Link's eye and nodded at him, urging him to put the plan into action. Snapping out his trance and putting the bad, sick, worried, dreadful feeling in his stomach behind him, he pressed the crowd of the toughest fighters forward, getting behind to backside. Once they were all in position, Link signaled to Zelda, and she chucked the stick at Ganondorf with all the might and power her petite body could muster.
It hit Ganondorf in the head. He instantly looked over at the tree, since that was direction the branch had come from. Zelda was scrambling back down as fast as she could. Link had to try very hard to resist the urge to go help her.
There was a moment of silence as Ganondorf's army and King Elion's army faced one another. They merely stared at each other for a minute before Darunia's voice bellowed, "Chaaaaarge!"
And that they did. In the blink of an eyes every single soldier in Hyrule's army was attacking Ganondorf army of lizalfos, Garo ninjas, moblins, every other monster possible. There were some even Link didn't recognize, and that was rare, because he had travelled so much. Because of this, fighting the monsters felt easy to him; he could kill one with one movement of his blade. He also knew some magic, and whenever the crowd of creatures around him got to be too thick, he summoned Din's Fire and knocked them all out.
The battle was long and arduous. Many times Link did see a Hylian race being cut to pieces, and every time his heart wrenched the same. Blood was splattering in all directions, and once he did see Elion take quite a blow to the arm. Every time this happened Link wanted to rush to whoever's side and aide them, but he didn't. He had to focus on the fight, and he did.
But the monsters didn't stop coming. Ganondorf seemed to have an endless supply of them, and meanwhile he was using black magic to kill off the Hylian races. Link kept checking up on Zelda, but Nayru's Love was holding strong, to his relief.
Nearly an hour had gone by when Link stopped to take a breath and realized that everyone had stopped fighting. All around him, monsters lay dead, slaughtered. Ganondorf's army was defeated! Link was victorious, he wanted to jump and shout for joy.
But to his despair, he saw that there were so few Hyrule races left. There were a few Gorons here and there, and there was a actually quite a bit of Hylians, and one or two Zoras, but most of them were inside healing anyway. Link remembered this with glee: those that were hurt could get better, he thought with gratitude and more relief.
Also, Ganondorf himself was still alive. The Hylians had spent so much time killing off his army, they hadn't even noticed him. Which was his plan, of course, Link realized now.
"Hylians, you have done well," Ganondorf said, "and my army of assembled monsters is gone. I must first acknowledge your gallant efforts before I destroy you."
Before anyone could do or say anything, Ganondorf called upon his darkest powers. A huge ball of black, evil electricity was forming above his head. It looked like the huge gray clouds in the sky were being used to create it.
The Hylian army either too stupid or awed to move and run back to the castle. Majority of them simply stared in wonder and fear.
Ganondorf spoke again. "I could use this black magic to destroy all of the citizens of Hyrule," he said. "But that would be a waste. Instead, I'm going to do this: kill the one person in Hyrule that holds everyone together very close to her heart."
Link's first thought was Impa. But wait--she was inside the castle as well; Hyrule couldn't lose its only Sheikah.
The very moment Link comprehended who Ganondorf meant, Ganondorf aimed all his power at Princess Zelda, who was standing in the middle of the field. A determined, angry look was in her eye, but when she saw the evil powers aimed at her, her expression changed, and she looked scared, but yet immovable. She didn't move or run to hide, she let the powers overtake her.
Link let out a yell of horror, as did King Elion. Both men hurried to Zelda's side as she collapsed.
Ganondorf laughed evilly, and the Hylian army, trembling with fear and anger, charged at him now. But their swords and bit of sorcery was no match for Ganondorf.
Link didn't notice any of this. Instead he knelt beside Zelda, holding her hand tight in his. Blood leaked from her head, and she could barely move, other than to tilt her head to look from her father's tear streaked face to Link's.
"Zelda," Link said through tears, "don't go. Be strong, you're gonna make it, I promise you. C'mon..." He tried to lift her, but she was limp as a ragdoll. "We gotta get you inside to the Zoras and Impa, they'll heal you..." He wiped a tear from his eye.
Zelda's eyes closed and then fluttered open. Link could see, with horror, that it was taking all of her energy to do just that. "Go...Link..." she said lifelessly. "I'm going to...a better place...kill him, Link...kill Ganon..."
She closed her eyes again. Link looked at her, his eyes wide with urgency now. She was trying to tell him something. "What, Zelda?" he asked.
She looked at him and pointed a blood-covered finger at the castle. Then she whispered a final "I love you" before becoming flaccid, and closing her eyes for good.
Link could only stare in shock and wretchedness. The moment Zelda stopped breathing was the moment his heart shattered into a million pieces. He squeezed his eyes shut, his body racked his sobs. Minutes passed, and his tears turned to hysterics. He was crying loudly, and the few people that were left were taking notice. They looked over at Link and Elion, who was also crying, with concern, not quite sure what happened.
Through his tears he looked at Zelda's face, pale and covered with mud and dirt, with a trickle of blood going down her left cheek. He brushed her face clean and then kissed both her cheeks, holding her dead body close to his.
After several more minutes of this, Link felt the heavy sadness in his heart turn to anger. Anger at Ganondorf and anger at himself for letting her die. He lifted his head. Elion was still next to him, holding Zelda's hand, his head bowed. Link touched the king's shoulder, and Elion looked up.
"Take her inside," Link instructed. "The Zoras might be able to mend her." He glanced over at Ganondorf, who was still killing the Hylian races left and right. "Nothing we do here seems to be working. What do you suppose we do now?"
Elion pondered. "I'm not sure, Link. I suggest you also go inside fetch some of your light arrows. They might be useful. Also, get some more shields and swords. We cannot let Ganondorf win. Especially after..." He looked down at Zelda pointedly.
Link's eyes were no longer a warm ocean blue, they were cold as ice, and they were narrowed. A menacing look was on his face. "Let's go."
The two men hurried to the castle, which was still standing thanks to the shielding spell Zelda had put on it. On the way, Elion, who was carrying Zelda, asked, "How do you supposed she died? Didn't you have Nayru's Love on her?"
"I did," Link said, confused. "I guess it wasn't strong enough, or it was wearing off."
Inside, Elion brought Zelda to the Zoras and Link searched for more swords and shields. But he found none, other than his Mirror Shield. His Hylian one was getting pretty worn out, and he treasured it so, because it was the same one he'd used not only during his travels, but to save Hyrule previously. He left it in Zelda's room, where he was sure it'd be safe.
He wasn't thinking quite clearly, and he was forcing himself not to think about Zelda, reassuring himself that he'd be thinking about her plenty in the near future. So he headed it, jogging, his heart heavy and his body weary, but he still had a small bit of hope that he might defeat Ganondorf.
The Hylians were still fighting. Darunia was still there, to Link's relief, and a few other Gorons. There was quite a lot of Hylian humans, and a few Zoras and here and there. But none of them were Ganondorf's concern after he saw Link exit the castle. He wanted the Hero of Time dead, now. He was, after all, the one who had overpowered him in the end last time.
"Good-bye, Hero," Ganondorf hissed at Link, and shot a ray of powerful electric voltage at him.
On natural instinct, Link put up his shield. As soon as the black magic hit the Mirror Shield, it deflected back at Ganondorf, hitting him right where his heart would be.
Ganondorf cried out, bellowing loudly as he fell to the ground. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned, watching wide-eyed. Ganondorf's body vanished in a cloud of electricity, and all that was left was his maroon cape.
All eyes were on Link as he walked over to where the cape was and lifted it, examining it carefully. When he was finished, he looked at the crowd and said, "I guess he's gone."
"But how?" asked a Goron.
"The Mirror Shield," responded a Hylian. "Did you see? Link held it up to defend himself and when the dark magic repelled back at Ganondorf, he died."
"How did you know, Link?" asked someone else.
"I didn't," Link answered. "I went inside to grab more swords for everyone, and for some reason I decided I may as well change shields, because my Hylian Shield is one of my most valuable possessions. I used the Mirror one as a substitute, really. I don't know..."
"Well, the point is, he's dead," said a stern, relieved voice.
"Probably for good this time," another voice peeped up.
Inside Link's head, the others' voices drowned out. He tried to grasp what had happened. But no matter what, he couldn't. Worst of all, he couldn't figure out whose death he was so surprised about: Ganondorf's or Zelda's.
"C'mon," he told what was left of the army meekly. "We gotta go..."
His voice was small and his face grimy, greasy, and pale. He looked the least offensive he ever had right then and there. But the Hylian army listened to him. Because he was Link. And they were confused. They wanted answers, which made them obey. But on the walk back to the castle, they didn't press him. They were scared of Link now. Link himself could tell by how far away from him they walked. Or maybe they weren't afraid, maybe they just didn't want to bother him with questions.
Killing appeared so easy for Link. Defeating Ganondorf was like snapping a twig. And now he had done it twice. So it was no wonder they people of Hyrule were intimidated by him.
While the army stayed downstairs to celebrate their triumph and mourn over the many deaths had had occured, Link avoided eye contact with anyone and headed upstairs. He still wasn't thinking very clearly, but he knew where Zelda's room was by heart. There in her empty bed he laid down and closed his eyes. When King Elion came up two minutes later to check on him, he was sound asleep.
Link rose from his sleep before anyone else the next day. There had been no nightmares, but he wanted to see how badly Hyrule had been destroyed, and also how hard Hyrule would have to fight.
So he dressed in his normal clothes and put on his Master Sword and Hylian Shield. His other shield, the Mirror Shield, was also with his belongings, just in case for some reason the other wore out. Zelda had also supplied everyone with small machetes, knives, and swords the night before. There weren't enough shields to go around, but those who knew magic could use it.
After getting ready, Link stepped out into the cool, and what he saw horrified him. There didn't seem to be any signs of life other than the races inside the castle. Trees were torn down or burned, and the grass was mangy and dry and dead. The sky was now pitch black: there were stars or sun or anything. Link wondered where the goddesses were at times like this.
In the distance Link saw a tornado-like wind moving closer and closer to the castle. Ganondorf's power, Link realized in fear. The dark Gerudo was obviously even more powerful than he was before. Link was scared. Hyrule's undersized army would have to fight harder than ever before.
Closing his eyes, Link tried to remember a time when everything had been okay. It wasn't hard. Ganondorf's reincarnation had happened so fast, it seemed. Less than a week ago everything had been wonderful, perfect. Now it was the opposite.
Link came back to life when he heard the distant cry of a monster. He didn't know what kind yet, and right now he didn't want to find out. So he ran back to the castle, panicked.
"Get up!" he shouted. "Ganondorf is coming. He has an army of monsters. We must hurry!"
All around the races were preparing themselves. Those who knew magic, including Link, put protective spells on the weaker warriors. The few women that were fighting had the strongest protective spells on them, including Zelda, who wore simple fighting clothes: a black dress that was one of a peasant and a dark green cloak. Her hair was unbrushed, but right now none of that mattered. What mattered was staying alive for as long as possible.
Zelda spoke to Link. "How hard will we have to fight?" she demanded.
Link stared into her eyes. "Hard," was all he said.
A few minutes later he found Darunia coaching some of his Gorons. "You know some of your people will die," Link explained softly, trying not to upset the Goron king.
"I know," Darunia responded. "But we are strong fighters and if we do die, it is for the good of Hyrule. It would be an honor to die for our country."
Beaming with Hylian pride, Link patted Darunia on the arm and moved on. Everyone had agreed that few Zoras should fight and that the most skilled healers should stay inside curing those who were hurt. "That takes away from our army," Link told King Elion.
"I know," Elion admitted. "But it's for the best. You must trust me. Today, we all have to trust each other. Hyrule must come together."
Soon enough, everyone was prepared. Link had butterflies of terror in his stomach: he just had a feeling something bad, maybe even awful, was going to happen.
The army marched across Hyrule Field, fearless and solid, well-fed and well- rested, tenacious and loyal. King Elion was the leader, followed closely by his most trusted advisors and then the Gorons. Link and the other Hylians were close behind them, followed by the Zoras.
"You scared?" Zelda asked him.
Link couldn't lie to her anymore than he already had. He nodded.
Her eyes blazed with zeal. "Don't be."
An enormous figure loomed in the near distance, and Link new it was Ganondorf, bigger and more powerfully dominant then ever. He was so tall his head seemed to touch the sky, and he wore strong dark Gerudo armor. As they got closer, Link easily saw that Ganondorf was still only half human Gerudo. His other half was...well, a monster.
Link paused not far from where Ganondorf was standing. The horrible creature seemed to be gaining on them every minute. Link's heart was pounding in his chest, so loud he worried someone would hear it. He glanced around fearfully. Zelda was to his right and Darunia was at his left. They reassured him that when they chose to attack, they would do it right. Zelda clutched at her sword, her grip so tight her knuckles went white.
Link wished so badly that he could turn around and tell everyone to fight like they'd never fought before, that there was nothing to lose. But so much could be lost. Everything could be lost. Link didn't want to risk anything.
It had been easier before, when it was solely his responsibility. Everyone else had been able to hide and protect themselves. Don't worry, good old Link would take care of it. Save Hyrule? No problem. He hadn't minded. He still didn't. This was his life. Only this time there was a burden. People he loved were going to lose their lives. It was inevitable.
An idea flashed through his mind. Link spun around said, "Attack from behind."
Zelda looked at him, puzzled. "What? Attack from...what?"
Link nodded. "Some of us can get him from behind. Yes, it'll all work. Okay. Our strongest fighters can sneak behind that wall and get him from behind, because remember last time when his tail was his weak point? I bet it still is."
Zelda was shaking her head, but Link kept going. "And the rest of us, we'll create a diversion in front of him. He'll be distracted. He's a monster, how hard can it be? No beast is ever that smart."
The princess shrugged. "Fine. I'll go spread the word. Let's just hope my father approves."
Link gulped at the thought of challenging King Elion's plans.
A ripple of excitement passed through the crowd. The people were approving. Link gave a tiny smile. Zelda was talking to her father now. He nodded and flashed Link a bright, hopeful grin of anticipation. Encouraged, Link grinned back.
Link watched the Gorons curl and roll themselves to behind Ganondorf. Ganondorf's own army surrounded him thickly on his sides and in front of him, but only two or three were behind, guarding him. They'd be simple to defeat.
Link felt a burst of adrenaline and Zelda was back at his side. She looked at him and said, "Let's do this."
The energy was flowing freely now. Link hugged Zelda tight now, and kissed her hair before releasing her and moving forward.
Zelda spontaneously went behind a tree and snapped off a thick branch before scrambling up what looked like the last tree in Hyrule. She caught Link's eye and nodded at him, urging him to put the plan into action. Snapping out his trance and putting the bad, sick, worried, dreadful feeling in his stomach behind him, he pressed the crowd of the toughest fighters forward, getting behind to backside. Once they were all in position, Link signaled to Zelda, and she chucked the stick at Ganondorf with all the might and power her petite body could muster.
It hit Ganondorf in the head. He instantly looked over at the tree, since that was direction the branch had come from. Zelda was scrambling back down as fast as she could. Link had to try very hard to resist the urge to go help her.
There was a moment of silence as Ganondorf's army and King Elion's army faced one another. They merely stared at each other for a minute before Darunia's voice bellowed, "Chaaaaarge!"
And that they did. In the blink of an eyes every single soldier in Hyrule's army was attacking Ganondorf army of lizalfos, Garo ninjas, moblins, every other monster possible. There were some even Link didn't recognize, and that was rare, because he had travelled so much. Because of this, fighting the monsters felt easy to him; he could kill one with one movement of his blade. He also knew some magic, and whenever the crowd of creatures around him got to be too thick, he summoned Din's Fire and knocked them all out.
The battle was long and arduous. Many times Link did see a Hylian race being cut to pieces, and every time his heart wrenched the same. Blood was splattering in all directions, and once he did see Elion take quite a blow to the arm. Every time this happened Link wanted to rush to whoever's side and aide them, but he didn't. He had to focus on the fight, and he did.
But the monsters didn't stop coming. Ganondorf seemed to have an endless supply of them, and meanwhile he was using black magic to kill off the Hylian races. Link kept checking up on Zelda, but Nayru's Love was holding strong, to his relief.
Nearly an hour had gone by when Link stopped to take a breath and realized that everyone had stopped fighting. All around him, monsters lay dead, slaughtered. Ganondorf's army was defeated! Link was victorious, he wanted to jump and shout for joy.
But to his despair, he saw that there were so few Hyrule races left. There were a few Gorons here and there, and there was a actually quite a bit of Hylians, and one or two Zoras, but most of them were inside healing anyway. Link remembered this with glee: those that were hurt could get better, he thought with gratitude and more relief.
Also, Ganondorf himself was still alive. The Hylians had spent so much time killing off his army, they hadn't even noticed him. Which was his plan, of course, Link realized now.
"Hylians, you have done well," Ganondorf said, "and my army of assembled monsters is gone. I must first acknowledge your gallant efforts before I destroy you."
Before anyone could do or say anything, Ganondorf called upon his darkest powers. A huge ball of black, evil electricity was forming above his head. It looked like the huge gray clouds in the sky were being used to create it.
The Hylian army either too stupid or awed to move and run back to the castle. Majority of them simply stared in wonder and fear.
Ganondorf spoke again. "I could use this black magic to destroy all of the citizens of Hyrule," he said. "But that would be a waste. Instead, I'm going to do this: kill the one person in Hyrule that holds everyone together very close to her heart."
Link's first thought was Impa. But wait--she was inside the castle as well; Hyrule couldn't lose its only Sheikah.
The very moment Link comprehended who Ganondorf meant, Ganondorf aimed all his power at Princess Zelda, who was standing in the middle of the field. A determined, angry look was in her eye, but when she saw the evil powers aimed at her, her expression changed, and she looked scared, but yet immovable. She didn't move or run to hide, she let the powers overtake her.
Link let out a yell of horror, as did King Elion. Both men hurried to Zelda's side as she collapsed.
Ganondorf laughed evilly, and the Hylian army, trembling with fear and anger, charged at him now. But their swords and bit of sorcery was no match for Ganondorf.
Link didn't notice any of this. Instead he knelt beside Zelda, holding her hand tight in his. Blood leaked from her head, and she could barely move, other than to tilt her head to look from her father's tear streaked face to Link's.
"Zelda," Link said through tears, "don't go. Be strong, you're gonna make it, I promise you. C'mon..." He tried to lift her, but she was limp as a ragdoll. "We gotta get you inside to the Zoras and Impa, they'll heal you..." He wiped a tear from his eye.
Zelda's eyes closed and then fluttered open. Link could see, with horror, that it was taking all of her energy to do just that. "Go...Link..." she said lifelessly. "I'm going to...a better place...kill him, Link...kill Ganon..."
She closed her eyes again. Link looked at her, his eyes wide with urgency now. She was trying to tell him something. "What, Zelda?" he asked.
She looked at him and pointed a blood-covered finger at the castle. Then she whispered a final "I love you" before becoming flaccid, and closing her eyes for good.
Link could only stare in shock and wretchedness. The moment Zelda stopped breathing was the moment his heart shattered into a million pieces. He squeezed his eyes shut, his body racked his sobs. Minutes passed, and his tears turned to hysterics. He was crying loudly, and the few people that were left were taking notice. They looked over at Link and Elion, who was also crying, with concern, not quite sure what happened.
Through his tears he looked at Zelda's face, pale and covered with mud and dirt, with a trickle of blood going down her left cheek. He brushed her face clean and then kissed both her cheeks, holding her dead body close to his.
After several more minutes of this, Link felt the heavy sadness in his heart turn to anger. Anger at Ganondorf and anger at himself for letting her die. He lifted his head. Elion was still next to him, holding Zelda's hand, his head bowed. Link touched the king's shoulder, and Elion looked up.
"Take her inside," Link instructed. "The Zoras might be able to mend her." He glanced over at Ganondorf, who was still killing the Hylian races left and right. "Nothing we do here seems to be working. What do you suppose we do now?"
Elion pondered. "I'm not sure, Link. I suggest you also go inside fetch some of your light arrows. They might be useful. Also, get some more shields and swords. We cannot let Ganondorf win. Especially after..." He looked down at Zelda pointedly.
Link's eyes were no longer a warm ocean blue, they were cold as ice, and they were narrowed. A menacing look was on his face. "Let's go."
The two men hurried to the castle, which was still standing thanks to the shielding spell Zelda had put on it. On the way, Elion, who was carrying Zelda, asked, "How do you supposed she died? Didn't you have Nayru's Love on her?"
"I did," Link said, confused. "I guess it wasn't strong enough, or it was wearing off."
Inside, Elion brought Zelda to the Zoras and Link searched for more swords and shields. But he found none, other than his Mirror Shield. His Hylian one was getting pretty worn out, and he treasured it so, because it was the same one he'd used not only during his travels, but to save Hyrule previously. He left it in Zelda's room, where he was sure it'd be safe.
He wasn't thinking quite clearly, and he was forcing himself not to think about Zelda, reassuring himself that he'd be thinking about her plenty in the near future. So he headed it, jogging, his heart heavy and his body weary, but he still had a small bit of hope that he might defeat Ganondorf.
The Hylians were still fighting. Darunia was still there, to Link's relief, and a few other Gorons. There was quite a lot of Hylian humans, and a few Zoras and here and there. But none of them were Ganondorf's concern after he saw Link exit the castle. He wanted the Hero of Time dead, now. He was, after all, the one who had overpowered him in the end last time.
"Good-bye, Hero," Ganondorf hissed at Link, and shot a ray of powerful electric voltage at him.
On natural instinct, Link put up his shield. As soon as the black magic hit the Mirror Shield, it deflected back at Ganondorf, hitting him right where his heart would be.
Ganondorf cried out, bellowing loudly as he fell to the ground. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned, watching wide-eyed. Ganondorf's body vanished in a cloud of electricity, and all that was left was his maroon cape.
All eyes were on Link as he walked over to where the cape was and lifted it, examining it carefully. When he was finished, he looked at the crowd and said, "I guess he's gone."
"But how?" asked a Goron.
"The Mirror Shield," responded a Hylian. "Did you see? Link held it up to defend himself and when the dark magic repelled back at Ganondorf, he died."
"How did you know, Link?" asked someone else.
"I didn't," Link answered. "I went inside to grab more swords for everyone, and for some reason I decided I may as well change shields, because my Hylian Shield is one of my most valuable possessions. I used the Mirror one as a substitute, really. I don't know..."
"Well, the point is, he's dead," said a stern, relieved voice.
"Probably for good this time," another voice peeped up.
Inside Link's head, the others' voices drowned out. He tried to grasp what had happened. But no matter what, he couldn't. Worst of all, he couldn't figure out whose death he was so surprised about: Ganondorf's or Zelda's.
"C'mon," he told what was left of the army meekly. "We gotta go..."
His voice was small and his face grimy, greasy, and pale. He looked the least offensive he ever had right then and there. But the Hylian army listened to him. Because he was Link. And they were confused. They wanted answers, which made them obey. But on the walk back to the castle, they didn't press him. They were scared of Link now. Link himself could tell by how far away from him they walked. Or maybe they weren't afraid, maybe they just didn't want to bother him with questions.
Killing appeared so easy for Link. Defeating Ganondorf was like snapping a twig. And now he had done it twice. So it was no wonder they people of Hyrule were intimidated by him.
While the army stayed downstairs to celebrate their triumph and mourn over the many deaths had had occured, Link avoided eye contact with anyone and headed upstairs. He still wasn't thinking very clearly, but he knew where Zelda's room was by heart. There in her empty bed he laid down and closed his eyes. When King Elion came up two minutes later to check on him, he was sound asleep.
