IX
Footsteps in the dirt outside revealed that Sefia had already passed through, leaving Link little choice but to follow. He made his way through the corridors, now hauntingly empty. Only a few keese greeted him, their leathery wings fluttering in the darkness. In a way, it was more frightening than when it was filled with beasts and wicked men. Would it happen again? There had been no time to send a warning to Hyrule, although Zelda would need to know. But perhaps there was still time to stop the spell. As Link entered the final chamber, he finally caught up to Sefia. There, on an altar, was the ashes of Ganon, with numerous candles and torches behind it. Sefia was chanting, and the sword was held above the altar. Red drops fell, as Link rushed in with a yell.

Sefia turned and blasted a hasty fireball at Link, but to no avail. The two foes circled each other, each waiting for an opening. Sefia smiled. "Why have you returned here, hero of Hyrule? The spell is done, and nothing can stop Ganon from rising again. He will not allow you to stop him this time, my young friend. You should have left, stayed with your fallen general. At least you would have lived out your life."

"Why did you do it Sefia?" Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw a mist rising from the ashes. Perhaps there was still time to reverse the spell if he could keep the wizrobe off balance. "You were the mayor of a new town. Your people had a new lease on life. And now you throw it all away to be cast into bondage again by the King of Evil himself. Why?"

"Cast into bondage? New lease on life? How little do you know. True, many were forced into his will, but I and many others of my kind joined him willingly. New lease on life. Would you have me live out a meager life and then die out there in that village? When I could live forever?" A look of surprise crossed Link's face. "Yes, immortality. Ganon discovered the secrets of it, many hundreds of years ago. Yet we wizrobes, who have long studied the mystic arts, have never stumbled on this magic. Mortal lives have no meaning. The loss of a few, or many, in a war is well worth the price if I can live forever. With his return, the secret will live on."

The mist was starting to become thicker now, and Link realized there was no time for anything fancy. Sefia would not undo the spell, and desperate hope was all Link had left. He had inched his way toward the altar and was now right by it. "Sorry Sefia, but immortality is the least of your problems now." With that, he pushed over the altar, scattering the ashes. But the mist remained. Worried about the more immediate problem however, Link ignored these results and charged toward Sefia, his magical shield blocking the numerous waves of energy. Sefia stumbled backwards, fully realizing the strength of Link and now fearing for his life. He continued to attack Link, but nothing stopped the hero. With one mighty swing of the Master Sword, Sefia fell.

"You... may have won here," the fallen wizrobe rasped. "But the spell... cannot be... broken." With that, he died. Link turned his attention to the ashes of Ganon and was disturbed by what he saw. The mist had further thickened, and now a thick black cloud hung over the floor. Link charged into the midst of it, swinging the legendary blade, but the smoke merely swirled around it, obviously repelled but not defeated. The smoke was cold, chilling straight to the bone, and Link began to feel numb. A vague feeling of being possessed and merging with the smoke crept forward, but the Master Sword held it at bay. Instead, the smoke started to move away and swirled around Sefia's fallen body.

The wizrobe's corpse was lifted up into the air and the smoke seemed to disappear within it. Link tried to attack it, but was propelled backwards. Light started to shine from within the body, and eventually became too bright to look at. A murmur, and then a roar, appeared from deep within the corpse. The light exploded, and when Link could see again, the familiar pig-like stature of Ganon was standing before him.