AN: I used Weegie's 'King Harkinian' you could say, by naming him Erich. It's not the same character, but I thought the name really fit and my mind won't let me name him anything else. I tried writing an E-mail to Weegie to ask 'um if I could use the name, but it was sent back to me. So with that I give full recognition to Weegie for King Harkinian's name, Erich. Go and read the story 'Dynasty'! It's one of the BEST stories I've read. It's on my favorite list so go! While I'm suggesting things, go read 'Of Myths and Legends' also. Do it NOW.
Just to forewarn, Ganondorf does some talking to himself and though I have him kind of with two separate identities in this, he refers to himself still as "I" or "me". To make it a little easier, for any part that the 'bad' part is talking, he'll refer to himself beginning with a capital, like a religious figure. Hell, it's still confusing, but I like things to be confusing. It kind of helps with the mood too, for it is a very unexpected, dangerous situation.
Chapter Seventeen: The Battle of Wills
Link jerked his head back around to face the Door of Time, finding it unchanged. The entire temple was silent save for the howling wind and muddled, rolling thunder outside, but Link could sense the energy swirling around the vast, empty room. His heart quickened and breath grew shallow in anticipation for the first move, the first sign that all chaos had erupted again. The Sages had formed a semi-circle around the hero again as King Harkinian took a place by Link's side. The aging king looked stern and proud, with strong weathered features and such an air about him that is was not a wonder he was a great leader of men.
The room seemed to groan all at once as Link felt a wave of nausea wash over him and the sound of his blood buzzed in his ears. He and the king both drew their swords with a satisfying scrape of metal against metal as the intensity of the energy built higher and higher around them. There was a brilliant flash of light above the Altar that pained everyone's eyes to behold.
"Hold strong!" King Harkinian yelled above the terrible din that was filling the temple. Great forked whips of light and shadow lashed out from the portal that was now torn open above the Altar of Time. From the gateway emanated waves of smoldering heat and freezing winds that coiled around a person, somehow rooting them to where they stood. A great groan ripped through the temple and Link, with a frightening glare, looked to the altar as a dark figure loomed in its brilliant glow.
"It's Ganondorf!" Link's shout was lost in the turbulent eddies that whipped past him. The Sages summoned their strength together and united, willed their powers: forest, fire, water, shadow, spirit, Princess of Destiny, holder of Wisdom, to try and close the rift, but to no avail. The shadowed figure came into clearer view until with another horrendous cry it was dispelled from the gateway, a black, crumpled shape hunched on monstrous knees and hands.
The tumult of noise and light ceased immediately and the entire temple fell into an unearthly silence. Link could hear the hampered, choking cough of the thing bowed in front of the Door of Time. It was a raspy, pathetic gasping. Zelda held the other sages in their positions with a trembling hand as the silence still settled around them. The King looked on in disbelief, his face a hard and grim expression. Link felt the weight of the Master Sword in his hand, its power seeming to sing with this new meeting of evil. No one spoke aloud, but Link heard Impa's voice inside his head.
"Be strong, Hero if Time, we are with you."
Link did not dare to let his eyes leave the stooping figure for a moment. With his mighty weapon in hand he began to approach. Each step of his boot felt weighted down, and the thick, thud, thud, of his gait might as well have been drums beating in an empty hall. He circled the figure and it did not move. The wide breadth of the back heaved up and down slowly, the wheezing, strangled breathing showed no sign of acknowledgment that the Hero was there.
The struggle through the Sacred Realm had drained the Dark Lord even beyond his own expectations. The great, dark hands tainted sickly green on brown desert flesh, flexed against the ancient stones of the floor, as if trying to claim feeling again. Wild, flaming hair receded back along the scalp, the first signs of thinning with age beginning to show itself. The armor, brown and black, with sashes of white bearing the Gerudo patterns covered him, unchanged from when the Hero of Time and the Princess of Destiny had faced him those few short years ago.
Link stood before him now, and yet Ganondorf made no effort to move, only the hampered, deep gasps. The Master Sword hummed with power in his hands as if it knew its purpose. Link knew he had to act quickly, less this vile, decrepit form at his feet somehow was too good to be true, and all of the events that had happened since his meeting with the Future Sages had changed the events of history. It couldn't possibly be that simple…Link knew that, and yet he wanted to believe! Oh by all the Powers of the Goddesses, he prayed for it to be true! Link raised the Master Sword, ready to plunge it into the weakened King of Evil.
Concealed within the shadows of the Temple, three figures appeared, unnoticed by all.
This is too easy…
His movements were lightning quick and a bare hand gripped around the Master's blade, not feeling the pain of the deep wound it inflicted. Link was staring into two small, wicked red eyes, alight with rage and power beyond anyone's account. He threw the Hero with little effort, lashing him backward with a painful wrench. Within an instant the King of Evil had regained his strength and now stood towering over Link.
"You couldn't have possibly thought it would have been that simple, did you boy?" Ganondorf laugh was still weak and raspy. Never again did Link think he would hear that chilling voice, but there it was, echoing through his ears. Gripping the Master Sword, red with Ganondorf's blood already, Link braced himself to face him.
"You won't accomplish anything from this Ganondorf!" Link shouted bravely. "Your reign in Hyrule ended four years ago!"
Ganondorf looked him over, seizing him up almost. Another deep rumble sounded in his chest until it erupted into full-blown laughter that rang throughout the halls. The once King of the Gerudos extended his massive, powerful arm and in his hand a fearsome blade appeared, twisted and blackened, befitting one such as he.
"Do not try and stop me lad, it is folly," Ganondorf's tone was steady, calm almost, but in his eyes Link could see something was deeply awry. The Dark Lord's grip on his blade clenched and unclenched and the tendon's in his large hands quivered from strain. Link could see that Ganondorf was battling with himself.
"There is something wrong..." Zelda communicated to the other sages that which they themselves could already see and feel.
"Why isn't he moving? Why isn't Ganondorf attacking?" Even in telepathy Ruto's voice was shaky.
"He's struggling, look at him," Darunia spoke.
"Weakling! We should kill him now while we have the chance!" Without even looking at her Zelda knew that Nabooru had her powers ready and her Gerudo scimitars drawn.
"Link! Oh Link be careful!" Saria whispered.
"Zelda, we must stay strong. I like this new development not." Impa's voice was the most intimate to Zelda of all. She felt the Sheikah's mind reach out and touch her one last time, embracing her as her arms could not. Mother, Impa had always been her mother and always would be, no matter what happened here on this day.
Thunder cracked outside. For the first time Ganondorf looked at the sages and the king, standing and ready to face him. There was fear and determination in their glares, an unchallenged righteousness that sickened him. His eyes fell onto Nabooru, weapons bared and he could not help but smile secretly to himself. She was so breathtaking in her rage that it stunned him.
She will be Mine again, oh yes; she will be Mine…My Desert Goddess…The darker side lanced through him again, as He had since his expulsion from his prison. He was hard to control, and yet Ganondorf could almost will Him to be silent. Ganondorf had no wish for battle, all he wanted to do was to return home, home to the desert…but He thirsted for the blood of all who brought Him to ruin.
They ruined My plans…toppled Me from My thrown…they all must die…
Forget about them, it's time I returned home to my people. It is time to leave behind this, Shadow!
Don't be a fool, I can never return to the desert again! My people have abandoned me! It is My power that drives you!
"I said to stand aside boy," sneered Ganondorf, "I will not go back to that dark pit of nothingness you call a sacred realm."
"It is you that will stand aside Ganondorf, you've not caught us unaware this time," Harkinian was standing next to Link, long sword brandished. "Stand down…now."
The strength of Him was very strong…Ganondorf could not find the will to fight Him any longer with so little strength left in him, and finally conceded. Any form of mortal compassion slipped away again into the deep recesses of his mind and left to be swallowed by the Evil Force.
What is wrong with him? Link asked himself, analyzing the great drops of perspiration on Ganondorf's brow and the fevered look in the Dark King's eyes. There was a shudder of succumbing that visibly ran through the man, a quivering of muscles from head to foot that skimmed down the mighty stature in a wave. Link did not like that wave and leapt at the Evil King without a moment's hesitation, Master Sword held high.
The red eyes turned and flashed fire. The hatred, the malice…all of His ill-will came flooding back in a torrent of blackness. The Hero had finally made a move, but it was easily diverted with a clashing of swords that left both men locked in battle. On the back of each hand the Mark of the Triforce burned brilliantly, once again beginning to awaken in the presence of the Other.
"That will be mine soon enough, boy," said Ganondorf, backing free of he and Link's sword grip, "yours and the Princess Zelda's." The cruel expression turned into a somewhat amused grin. "Tell me…has she become your little whore? A prize for overthrowing me once? I'm sure she's a tasty little thing when you take her to bed…"
King Harkinian struck with fury, his blade tearing right through the Dark Lord's side, but it accomplished little. Ganondorf looked at him with a blank stare, then grinned slightly before sending the King flying back against the wall, his sword clattering on the ground next to him as he too slid down with a dead weight thud.
"Harkinian, you should know better than that!" Ganondorf's eyes narrowed as he used his mental powers to throw the King yet again across the temple and into the sages. "I am immortal! So long as I have the Triforce of Power, no weapon of yours may harm me!" And he laughed out loud.
"Ganondorf!" Nabooru shouted and charged him, Gerudo blades glittering in the fading light. Ganondorf laughed again and from his hand he formed a white ball of light and hurled it at the Spirit Sage. Nabooru leapt into the air, with all of the grace and agility befitting a trained Gerudo warrior, and dodged it. She tumbled along the ground and found her feet again, continuing her enraged charge. Her red hair flew behind her like a banner.
"Nabooru!" Ruto cried as she reached within striking distance of Ganondorf, who was still just smirking at her. They locked swords, but only to the extent of Ganondorf's own amusement. He had surpassed her in strength long ago. With a flick of the elbow Nabooru was thrown from his side and sent scraping along the stones of the temple floor.
"You bastard!" Nabooru seethed, raising herself with difficulty. It had been long since she used her mortal body in the physical world. "I shall rip your heart out and hold it in my hands!" Ganondorf snarled again and flashed another bolt of power toward the Spirit Sage, striking her and sending her in flight with a sickening sizzle.
"If it is a battle you want, then you shall have it!" Ganondorf roared, flying from the ground into the air, the Light of the Triforce of Power burning in his eyes and on the back of his hand. The sages raised their arms in invocation, calling upon the power of the Goddesses to aid them. The air shimmered around them, took on colors and sheen as the temple itself seemed to tremble. There was another burst of light as the sages gathered their strength in attack of the Evil King.
The Light flooded out like a wave over the temple. It was a roaring surf that did not break and thundered and seethed so loudly that even Ganondorf was caught unaware. With a stupendous crash the Dark Lord was thrown back and crushed against the mighty Door of Time and for an instant all held their breaths, hoping beyond all hope that the blast had somehow managed to stop him. It was not so. Ganondorf rose, though with difficulty and strain, with a deep laughter rumbling in his throat.
"Pathetic fools! You are weak! I shall show you what power really is!" And with that there was a terrible crack and the Temple of Time began to shake. Link and King Harkinian had fallen back into line with the Sages as the temple began to crumble around them.
"Zelda! We must do something!" Saria cried, her tiny fingers outstretched, helping the other sages to maintain the protective barrier around them.
"My daughter," Harkinian stood besides her, brushing her cheek softly and looking at her with fatherly, loving eyes. Standing at the foot of peril, Erich did not know what the outcome would be. He had been parted from his daughter for so long. She had grown up to be a beautiful woman before he had time to realize. This man Ganondorf had taken her childhood away from him, taken away precious years that would never be regained. Erich would not let him harm his daughter again.
Zelda closed her eyes and felt her father's warmth. He was a strong man, her hero since the very beginning. She did not know what would come of this battle, but she knew she would not let this Evil King part her and her family again.
"Father," Zelda whispered as the temple shook violently and groaned under Ganondorf's power. "I love you."
"I love you, Zelda. Know that I am forever proud of you." He turned from her now, sword drawn, ready to face his death if it was called for now.
AN: Yeah! I finally have an equal number of reviews to chapters! *does happy dance*. That's so cool! I'm not purposely trying to make cliffhangers all the time (though, I do admit it is fun *evil grin*) I'm just trying desperately to ration my few written surplus chapters! Chapter twenty is being a bitch, I've already half written two versions, and don't really like either…It's annoying…I just don't want to go for weeks without any updates, which might happen if I don't snap out of this writer's block…Thanks to everyone for reviewing too! Cassidy, BlueOceanZ, and Krista Aya!