Section 5
Black Battle
Link awoke suddenly in the middle of the night, sitting bolt upright. He had been having a rather bloody dream, but that wasn't what had woken him. He didn't know what had woken him and he didn't feel very sleepy anymore, so he put his clothes on. In was only about twenty minutes from sunrise, so he didn't see any harm in waking early and having a little stroll to enjoy the rest of the peaceul night (even though the sky was still overcast, the thunder had stopped, so it was very quiet). Link quietly left his room and walked down the hall, until he came to its end and went outside. A pleasant breeze was blowing, and as Link walked toward the stone stairs that led to the battlements, he heard an owl hooting softly. Link got to the top and looked around, spotting half a dozen night guards along the wall. They greeted him as he walked past, and Link looked over the burnt Hyrule Field. He was sad because it had lost much of its beauty, but the Know-It-All Brothers had once said that burnt greenery grows back even nicer, so Link wasn't too depressed about it. Link looked ahead and saw that the next guard down the wall was Raykel. He hadn't recognized him at first because of a change of hair, but Link walked up and said hi.
"How's it going, Raykel?" Link asked. "Nice night, huh?" Raykel nodded. He had shaved his mustache off, and his long black hair was tied back. "So you shaved, eh?" Link said, grinning.
"What's wrong with that? A man can shave, can't he?" Raykel said, his cheeks turning slighly pink. Link tried to supress a laugh and failed.
"Oh be quiet. Cyphas said the mustache tickled." This only made Link laugh more. "Well, we'll see how you feel when you grow a mustache, along with some maturity, and start liking girls!" Link hadn't though about that. Now that he did, he knew he might spring a mustache any time now. It would be wierd to have facial hair, and he'd probably shave it...
"You know I'm just teasing, Raykel. I'm glad for you and Cyphas, really. I hope your men won't think it's wierd..."
"Most of them don't know yet, and I don't know how they'll take it...I hope most of them aren't predjudice of halfbreeds."
"Yeah," Link said in concurrance. The owl Link had been hearing suddenly let out a loud hoot and flew away. Link and Raykel looked at eachother, sensing danger. Then they looked out over Hyrule Field. It was a very dark night with all the clouds covering the sky, and difficult to make out anything. After a few tense moments of staring at the blackened, shadow-covered ground and seeing nothing, Link thought it was safe. Until he heard a soft twang and a black arrow plunged into his right shoulder. Link gasped in pain and the force of the arrow made him stumble backwards and land on his backside.
"Link! Are you okay?!" Raykel asked, running to his side. Link grimaced and pulled the arrow out of his shoulder.
"Yeah, I think so. Hurry and raise the alarm, there's monsters out there." Raykel informed his men, and with the Royal Guard running everywhere to wake people up, the whole castle was awake within five minutes. Link hurriedly used his Arlia plant on the arrow wound and went back to the wall. He looked down at the land right next to the castle saw many black monsters. He hadn't even heard them! It was still too dark to tell how many, but if the soldiers didn't hurry up the monsters would surely invade. They were already climbing the wall. Link heard some running and turned to see soldiers dashing up the stone steps onto the battlements. Zelda also appeared, running to Link.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"It's a night attack. Well, sorta. It'll be day soon. Remember those black monsters me and Saroe saw? They're here!" Link grabbed Zelda's arm and pulled her out of the way of a black arrow that had been aimed for her. They both turned to see more soldiers arriving. It looked like over half the Hylians were there now, and the gorons and zoras were gathering by the gate.
"Orders, Princess!" Raykel said as he arrived, slashing at a monster that had climbed to the top of the wall.
"W-what?" Zelda asked, staring at Hyrule Field. It was getting lighter as the sun neared the horizon, and everyone could see that this was no small raid. There were hundreds of swarming black beasts.
"The King isn't here yet, Zelda. He means you have to command the army!" Link said.
"Alright," Zelda said, nodding. She quckly conjured a light spell and made a glowing ball, throwing it into the air, where it hung suspended. The ball of light illuminated the dark force assaulting the castle, and nobody could supress a gasp as they looked apon the monsters. They were demons! Some had wolf heads with snake bodies, lizard bodies with spider heads...they were a black, writing swarm of body parts. Each one was different in appearance, but each was completely black, had red eyes, and a thirst for blood. They seemed to hate the light though, and shrank back blinking from the light ball. "Somebody lower the drawbridge so the zoras and gorons can attack! Archers, fire at will at the demons; and ground forces....half of you defend the wall, and the other half go help the zoras and gorons! Link, find Taig and go alert the flying forces."
"Sure thing, Zelda." Link said, dashing off. The rest of the troops followed the Princess's orders, holding off the fierce demons. Link didn't have to look very far, and found Taig and his brother after running into the courtyard. He told Taig to alert the air forces, and then he and Chain went to join the ground forces. When they got there they quickly discovered that the demons were no ordinary monsters. Their skin, whether it was furry or scaley, had a strange, magical, slippery covering. Slashing at them was useless, since the sword slipped right off of them. Only thrusts were effective, and it was difficult to kill them that way becasue they were very fast. Their only weakness was that they weren't very smart.
"Ganondorf's main force is coming!" Someone shouted, and Chain and Link both killed the demons they had been fighting and looked at the field. The sun had risen and though it was covered by grey clouds, it gave enough light for them to see a great army approaching. There were large flying demons in the sky, and below them were hundreds, perhaps thousands more ground demons, along with the normal monsters that hadn't been killed yet. To make matters worse, six demondragons lead the force, the foremost one ridden by Ganondorf. Four of the five dragons following Ganon were being ridden by creatures that couldn't be seen clearly, so Link assumed Ganondorf must have gotten some new generals to replace the ones he'd gotten rid of. "How did he get so many monsters?" "Where did they come from?" "How can we defeat all those?" These comments of fear and amazemnt along with others were heard as the force neared. They were moving fast, and were apon the castle in less than fifteen minutes. Luckily the air forces had been woken by this time, and joined the fray according to Zelda's orders. The demons and monsters were held back for a while by the ground and air forces, but there were so many that inevitably some broke through, into the castle and onto the battlements. Most of them were still being held off pretty well, until a demondragon flew over and its rider started chanting loudly. Link looked up as it passed and saw Feelock riding it.
"Chain, look! Feelock's gone evil again! When will that guy make up his mind?! I can't believe he'd go back to Ganondorf after being so nice to me and Sohran..." Chain looked mad, but stayed quiet, listening to the chanting.
"Link, he's casting a darkness spell!" He said.
"What?! But calwots don't have black magic!" Link pointed out.
"It's not a black magic spell, it's just a spell that will darken everything. Look!" Suddenly Zelda's light ball went out, and the demons got more fierce. The sun was shrouded behind clouds, and Feelock's enchantment made everything so dark Link could barely see the monsters he was fighting, except he saw their red eyes. "Sheesh, I can't see a thing! Ouch!" Chain yelped as a cat-headed demon cut his shoulder with its knives. Link lashed out at where he thought the beast was, and felt something die on his blade with a demonic screech.
"This is rediculous!" Link growled, channeling light magic into his sword. It brigtened up the immediate area, and Link saw to his horror that the castle was quickly beccoming overrun. Nobody could see what they were doing, and the demons were winning. King Daphnes, finally arriving, shouted commands that most couldn't hear over the screams of the dying. Suddenly a bright burst of light illuminated the battlefield, coming from above. Hyrule's allies looked up to see Sahoriel the Dragon Queen maintaining a light spell. A demondragon, comparitavely small in size to the Queen approached her.
"We meet again, Sahoriel and Cirokaal!" Ganondorf yelled from the back of his demondragon. "Surrender now, before I destroy you both!" Sahoriel and Cirokaal (hovering next to her) burst out laughing, nearly blowing the demondragon away.
"You do not frighten us, puny Gerudo!" Cirokaal roared.
"You will regret your words," Ganon retorted. Link watched from the ground as Ganon began forming some dark magic between his palms. Then some whitish wisps of magic came out of the King and Queen dragons, going into Ganondorf's spell.
"How are you doing this?!" Sahoriel asked in alarm, as an enormous shadow dragon was formed from Ganondorf's spell. It grew until it was as big as Sahoriel, then split into two halfs (which grew into whole dragons)and roared. The two shade dragons attacked the royal mountain dragons, forcing them to abandon the light spell and fight for their lives. Once again the entire Hyrule castle was blanketed in a thick darkness. Link heard Taig shout 'mother!' from somewhere and knew that the dragon would probably try to help his parents. Link was about to try and find a flying creature to help him help Taig, but heard screams to his right and saw some flying demons picking up Hylians. After picking them up, the demons bit their necks, and flew away with them. Link rushed out into an open area on the right of the battlefield (next to Zelda's trench), put away his sword, and took aim with a light arrow at one of the escaping demons. But before he could shoot, two demondragons flew over and their riders hopped off, falling down to where Link was. They were the white and green glowing generals that Link had seen the other day. He had already defeated thier blue and red counterparts, and hoped these would be less challenging than the other two. They didn't look it, though.
The green one was a strange lizard that walked on two legs. Its head was shaped like a komodo dragon's, but its eyes were like a gecko's. Its paws also resembled gecko paws, and its tail was long and spiked like a dragon's. It wore gold bands at various places of it's body, from which hung baggy, clothes-like white material. It was emerald green with an ivory-colored chest and black stripes on its back. It wore a bronze chestplate with a rose on it.
"Lord Ganondorf has sent us to eliminate you, and we never fail in our duty," The beast said, only opening its mouth slightly to talk. "What were once a harmless mocko and a child unicorn are now elements of devistation," It hissed, pulling out two long green whips covered in thorns.
"Do not underestimate us, mancreature." The white one said. It looked like a white horse with black and grey markings that stood on its hind legs, but its hands were like a human's. Its white and black mane and tail were very long, and it had large wings. It wore silvery, intricately detailed bands on its arms, legs, and neck, and it wore a metal mask from which protruded a metallic black unicorn horn. "We are not as weak as FireKatt and IceWulf were." Just like the other two generals, these two had eyes that glowed and an aura of magic around them.
"So Ganondorf has a sissy unicorn and a big-headed lizalfos wannabe for generals? What are your names, BreakWind and FlowerPower?" Both of them growled in irritation and Link drew his sword.
"We are PlantMokko and WindMehr. Prepare to meet the end of your road, human..." WindMehr said.
"Yeah, I've heard that befo-ack!" A vine shot out of the ground behind Link, grabbing his chest and pulling him to the ground. It held him there as others sprouted, wrapping tightly around his right ankle, left arm, and neck. Before more could grow, Link yanked the dagger out of his left boot (he always kept it there) and cut the vines holding him. He put the dagger away and jumped up, slashing at PlantMokko. The lizard jumped out of the way, whipping at Link. He blocked it with his Hylian shield and cut at the beast again, this time grazing his arm with the tip of the Master Sword. "Is that all you've got, FlowerPower?" He taunted. He then felt a strange sensation on his head and looked up, discovering that a flower had grown out of his forehead. Irritably, he brushed it off.
"You'll get more of those if you call me that ignorant name again, mancreature," PlantMokko said, making a tree shoot out of the ground next to him.
"And if you call me mancreature again, I'll give you little dents on your head to match my flowers!" Link hadn't been paying attention to WindMehr and the horse snuck up behind him. Using his wickedly sharp metal horn, he slashed Link's back so hard it threw him into the tree, screaming. Then the quick horse ran to the other side of the tree and grabbed Link's wrists on either side, holding him against the trunk. PlantMokko walked calmly behind him, fiddling with his whips.
"Men have died from fourty lashes of a normal whip, mancreature," PlantMokko said. Link called him FlowerPower and a rose sprouted from his ear. "Let's see how many you can take from my thorn-covered vine whips!" The gecko-like beast first used his whips skillfully to whip Link's shield and scabberd off his back, then gave him one strong crack of the whip.
"Ahhhh! Man, that stings!" Link said, trying to twist his wrists out of WindMehr's grip. Unfortunately, the horse gripped his wrists so tightly he couldn't even hit him with his sword. The annoying lizard whipped him again. As it tried to whip Link a third time, he raised his foot up behind him and the whip wrapped around his boot. Then he kicked forward and PlantMokko, not letting go of his precious whip, got yanked towards Link. When the lizard reached Link, the Hylian kicked him stongly in the gut, making him gasp and fall over. Link then sucked in a huge breath and used his gautlets to uproot PlantMokko's tree. WindMehr let go of him, but before he could get off the trunk Link slammed it to the ground, trapping the horse underneath it. PlantMokko got up and tried tried to slash Link with his claws, but Link sidestepped and channeled some light magic into his sword. He drove it into PlantMokko's side, and with a high-pitched scream the lizard turned back into a harmless little mocko baby (a mocko is a monster gecko and when they're babies they're about the size of a cat).
WindMehr snorted furiously and his wings began to glow, then he summoned a tornado, which was strong enough to send the tree hurling off him. Amazed by this power, Link stepped back and picked up his shield and scabbard, re-equiping them. WindMehr then made his human hands transform into horse hooves and began to gallop in very fast circles around Link in the air (he flapped his wings and ran at the same time, about four feet off the ground). Link powered up his sword again, but before he could do anything, the wind the horse summoned lifted him off his feet and slammed him into the ground forty feet away. Link got up, groaning and rubbing his shoulder. He looked at the ground and saw some of his own blood on it, then looked up and WinMehr was right in his face! This horse is wicked fast, he thought, observing that the hooves had turned back to hands as he stepped backwards. WindMehr's wings glowed again as he grabbed Link's shoulder and some strange power forced the air out of the Hylian's lungs. He gasped and tried to pull the unicorn's hand off, but the annoying thing gripped him tightly like before. The horse wan't even touching his neck, but he felt like he was being choked...
"Fool, I have all power over the air. I could make all oxygen leave your cells and kill you instantly, but I'd rather see you die slowly..." Link pulled out his dagger and cut WindMehr's wrist with it, making him let go.
"And I could drive my sword through you," Link said, breathing heavily. "But I just realized how to nullify your power!" The vine whip PlantMokko had dropped was on the ground next to Link, and it seemed obvious to him that WindMehr's wings gave him his power. Since the opposite elements of fire and ice could destroy eachother, Link figured that in this case earth and wind had that quality too. He grabbed the whip and lashed at WindMeh'rs wings. The vines whip's thorns tore them to shreds, rendering WindMehr wind-powerless.
"I will kill you for this, mancreature." The unicorn growled, pawing the ground.
"What are you going to do, Mr. BreakWind?" Link asked, grinning. The angry horse charged and Link backflipped to avoid it's horn, and when he landed he put a large cut in the horse's neck. It transformed into a cute baby unicorn. It was a relief that he'd defeated those two generals, but Link was far from calm. He looked over at the castle and could barely see, but it looked like the Hyrule air forces had beaten most flying demons and were now helping with the ground ones. Calwots and dragons had very good sight in the dark, so with some luck they might just drive the demons out of the castle. But some remaining flying demons were still carrying Hylians away. Link had no idea why they were doing this, but he had to stop it. It would be a lot easier with Zelda's help, so Link ran toward the castle. On his way he ran by Garret. "Can I trust you to take care of those?" Link asked him, pointing back at the unicorn and mocko.
"Well sure, but- hey!" Garret stopped talking since Link had already dashed off. Link encoutered group of monsters on the way, but effectively got them to leave him alone by using the Kai-ten-giri attack. Finally he made it to the drawbridge and ran inside, killing monsters on his way to the battlements. That was where he had last seen Zelda. When he was almost there, the reason Ganondorf's monsters were stealing Hylians hit him. Not only did he want POWs (prisoners of war) for an advantage, but it was to take focus off the Royal Family. If soldiers were too busy trying to help thier friends and failing in this blackness, they wouldn't be thinking of their leader, who they couldn't hear over the screaming anyways.
Ganondorf had realized the same thing. The soldier couldn't hear their King's commands, so who would hear a call for help? He observed that the calwots and dragons were slowly destroying his air force, so he had to move quickly before they completely drove away his ground monsters. He led his demondragon over to the battlements where King Hyrule was, and leapt off. The King's bodyguards attacked him immediately, but Ganondorf simply used his magic to kill them or throw them off the wall.
"Pathetic! I hope you can fight better than your guards, Daphnes!" Ganon challenged. Zelda was there too, and though she was terrified of Ganondorf, she knew her light magic might be the only thing that could save her father.
"Zelda, no!" King Hyrule yelled, seeing his daughter rush at Ganon with a sharp light spell in her hand. But Ganondorf wasn't as slow as he used to be and dodged. King Hyrule screamed in anger as Ganondorf grabbed Zelda's face and threw her off the wall, into the swarm of monsters below. Zelda landed on top of a demon, and recovering quickly, she ran it through with a magic sword. Then she transformed into Sheik and did a flip out of the ring of monsters. She took out some needle-like darts and used them to climb the castle wall, sticking them in the little crevices between stones. She climbed so fast that the demons couldn't catch her, and she was to the top in a matter of seconds. As she reached the top she saw her father battling Ganondorf to the right. He had his long, straight sword pressed up against Ganondorf's curved swords. The Evil King radiated darkness, and King Hyrule glowed softly with light. I didn't know father had magic, Sheik thought, heaving herself over the side of the wall. I have to reach my father before it's too la-...NO! It was already too late. Ganondrof was faster than Daphnes, and had taken his blade off the Hyrulian King's. He then drove his sword into Daphnes's chest faster than Sheik could blink.
"This isn't over, Ganondorf." Daphnes Hyrule hissed, blood dripping from his mouth.
"You're right, Daphnes. This is only the beginning." Ganondorf said, smiling darkly. King Hyrule glowed a strange red, then dissappeared. Blood covered the ground where he had been, and Ganondorf laughed insanely. No matter what the red flash had meant, Ganondorf had dealt him a deadly blow. Zelda knew she wouldn't be seeing her father again.
"Ganondorf, you'll get it for this!!" Sheik and Link (just arriving on the wall) shouted at the same time. They came at him from either side, both using light magic. Ganondorf flew into the air, escaping back to his dragon. Link would have tried to shoot him, but was distracted by Sheik. She saw the pool of blood, and knew her father was dead. Her only surviving parent, had now been taken from her by the King of Evil. She fell to her knees, not able to hold back the tears that came to her eyes. "My Father...no...." It made Link rather heavyhearted as well. He hadn't always agreed with Daphnes's decisions, but he had always tried his best and had been a pretty good King, friend, and father to Zelda. Not to mention seeing Zelda cry so pitifully made him very sad itself. The battle raged on around them as Link kneeled and embraced the princess. She hugged him tightly, crying into his chest. It went on like that for a minute or so, Sheik crying on Link and miraculously nothing attacking them. Then Sheik let go of Link and sat back, wiping her eyes. "There will...be a time to grieve for him," Sheik said, almost not able to speak. "But right now...we have to prevent more deaths, Link."
"Yeah," Link said, his eyes slightly moist. "Hylians are being stolen. I've gotta follow the monsters and find out where they're being taken..."
"I'm going with you." Sheik said.
"But Zelda, you have to command the army-" To Link's surprise she threw her arms around him again.
"Link, I'm going with you! Don't leave me!" She pleaded. He sighed, not able to turn her down.
"Alright, but you have to designate a leader to take over for you," Link said. Sheik nodded. She spoke to Sahoriel telepathically, telling the Dragon Queen to take over in her absence. The Queen was enraged to find out that Daphnes had died, and in a burst of fierceness destroyed the dragonshade she had been battling. Her and her dragons took new courage, killing demons by the group. After Shiek had casted Faore's Wind and made a warp point at the castle, her and Link found some surviving demons that were trying to steal Hylians, and managed to get stolen themselves. They pretended to be unconscious so they wouldn't get bitten, and the demons carried them far from the battlefield. By that time Ganondorf's army was starting to lose, so he called for a retreat.
"No!" I shout, jumping in front of the soldier. All I was thinking was this: If I don't block that hit, it'll surely finish that wounded guy...but since when was I like this? I am not my brother, I don't risk my life for others all the time...what is driving me to do this? Is it because I'm the Sage of Light? The glowing, club-like paw of the demon-bear-bug-thing smashes right into the side of my head, and I feel like my cranium is going to explode with the pain! Light flashes before my eyes and then I can see nothing. Am I blind? Unconscious? Dead? I can't move or feel anything....well it's paw was glowing, it must have done something to me...
Then something else happens: a memory pops up without me even trying to remember it. I'm re-living the memory...how wierd! It feels like there's two of me inside myself, the one who is there and the one who just got hit by the demon. At least it is a pleasant memory, a recent one. Malon sits across from me, we're on a hill in Royal Field that's somewhat close to the castle and it's night time. The sky is pretty much overcast, but we can see the milky outline of the moon's light, and some stars through small gaps in the clouds. I look at Malon - gosh, she's so beautiful - and she smiles at me with that heart-melting smile. I can't believe this girl didn't have a boyfrind. I can't believe she'd want me, after what happened to me in my past. I told her all about it yesterday and it didn't even phase her. She said she still loved me for who I was, not caring what happened to me. And here she was now, she came out here with me, saying she wanted to spend time with me. I realize I'm staring at her and look at the ground, my face feeling hot.
"Chain, you're so cute," Malon says, giggling and scooting closer to me. My cheecks get even redder as she sits right next to me, looking at my face. "Hey, don't be embarassed! There's no need to worry about anything, Chain. You can think about the war and all that later. Right now, the only thing I'm thinking of is you." Her soft-skinned arm comes up and rests over my shoulders, and she leans over and kisses my forehead. "I really, really like you, Chain. You're so nice to me...and you're great with horses, too, just like Link. Except you have more time for me...he's always busy with 'Hero of Time' buisiness, you know? Trying to get close to him is like chasing a never-tiring wild horse!"
"Yeah, he's a pretty busy guy..." I mutter quietly. She actually kissed me! I can't believe this..."But I'm the Sage of Light and a warrior. I'm sorry if I can't spend all my time with you either..."
"It's okay," She says quickly. "As long as you try. And as long as I know the way you feel about me is the same way I feel about you. Promise to try to be with me as much as you can?" I look up at her and I'm almost startled by how pretty she is. It's the same way everytime I look at her, from the first time I ever looked at her...those sparkling eyes, the deep red hair, the happy, pretty face...she's wonderful. Her personality only makes her face more radiant.
"I promise, Malon. And you can assured of the way I feel..." My lips are inches from hers. I continue to watch myself re-live the memory in this wierd me-inside-of-me experience...I really like this memory, and I know what I'm about to say, what I'm about to do...then something black distorts the memory. I heard an evil voice say something intellegible, and the memory shifts into something horrifying. Another memory. My worst memory. And I can't escape it! I am seven years old, and I'm shaking in fear. I'm in the prescence of him, that horrible, terrifying Gerudo...I was just taken to him on horseback by one of his loyal servants and now he's walking up to me, a freaky grin on his face. He looks pleased and begins to speak, but I'm so scared I can't even tell what he's saying as I stare at the ground. Something about me being ready for something more...then his big ugly boots fill my view. His cold hand latches onto my chin and pulls my face up to stare into those evil, red-and-yellow orbs of hate...his other hand comes up to cover my forehead and my eyes squeeze shut as an intense pain washes over me. I scream loudly as I feel a writhing, black mass of malice forcing its way into my mind...Then the memory dissappears and I'm left in the dark.
Section 6
Preventing Deaths
Tal says: despite the nice-sounding name, this section is pretty dark. But don't give up and stop reading becasue it looks like evil will win! My stories always have happy endings!
The ignorant demons carried Link and Sheik halfway across Hyrule Field, until they came to the area that had used to be Lon Lon Ranch. The two Hylians risked a glance up, and stared in amazement at what looked like a mini Ganon's Castle. Or the top of one, anyways. The stone building had towers and such, but was only about half the size of Ganondorf's real fortress. How many castles does this guy have?! Link wondered irritably. As they entered the place, Link and Sheik experienced a strange sensation momentarily, but forgot it as the demons carrying them discovered they were awake, and tried to bite them. The Hylians killed them. They had only been about twenty feet off the ground, so falling wasn't a problem. The Hylians evaded the guards within the castle, then began their search for the captive soldiers.
Footsteps echo through the blackness, and nothing is visible. What is the point of those footsteps? I'm not moving, so who is? I open my eyes slowly and see black above me. With a sharp intake of breath I sit bolt upright. I was sleeping? Where the heck am I? I remember...fighting...flying...The footsteps draw nearer. I look down and find I was laying on a rather soft bed. I'm in a nicely furnished room with stone walls and red carpet. The only light in the room is given by the green-fire torches lining the walls. The wood door of the room swings open and I jump out of the bed. Feelock of all people walks in!
"What is this place?!" I demand angrilly.
"You're home." He responds, smiling to show his sharp teeth.
"What the heck kind of answer is that?! This is clearly not Hyrule Castle! Hey...you're evil again, aren't you?"
"Well, not really." The calwot responds. "So, I hear you're the new Sage of Light, Dragonlord." He says, his creepy smile vanishing.
"Yes, I am the Sage of Light. But I am not the Dragonlord anymore! Why in the bloody heck are you working for Ganondorf after everything Link's done for you?" I ask, glaring at the traitor.
"I...Well, he's got some very strong leverage, you see. It's none of your buisiness, but he's got a friend of mine captured..." He frowns, looking sincerely like he regrets his siduation. "If I do something Ganondorf doesn't like, he'll kill her. Anyhow, I came to ask if you want anything."
"Heck yeah! I want Ganondorf to drop dead and let me out of his stupid castle!"
"Very sorry, Dragonlord." I cringe involuntarily from the sound of that voice. That horrible, poisonous voice..."But I do not feel compelled to drop and die for the likes of your slimey kind. Got tired of serving me, did you?!" Ganondorf enters the room, and bowing, Feelock leaves. "After I was sealed you decided you were off the hook, eh? Did my enduced memories remind you of why you are mine?" He walks toward me slowly, and I have to violently fight the urge to back away. Why's he gotta be so freakin' scary?!
"I...I didn't just give up, you know...I tried to...what the heck am I saying?! Your stupid evil spirit isn't in me anymore, and there's no way I feel any loyalty to you, you...monster! You killed my parents and now you want to kill my brother!" I'm practically shaking with rage and fear at the same time. How could I be brave enough to say such a thing? He's gonna kill me...
"I fine observation. Now I will make one. I observe that you're a cringing dog that will call me master once again, or die a slow death. Either you'll kill Link for me, or I'll kill you to hurt him." Ganondorf gets closer to me. Crud, I don't want to die! But there's no way I''ll work for him again. What do I do? I really wish Link were here...my courage seeps out of me.
"N-never....I'll never work for you again, G-Ganondorf..." I can't fight the urge anymore. My body shakes involuntarily as I back up, and feel my back press against the bedpost behind me. Ganondorf raises him arm, making a fist. I shudder.
"Last chance, Dragonlord!" I wonder something as he raises that fist. Why doesn't he just put another evil spirit in me like last time? I know, probably because it was easy when I was a little kid, and now it wouldn't work. Or maybe because I'm the Sage of Light...hey, that's right! I'm the Sage of Light. I close my eyes and freak out as he tries to punch me, and lacking a better thing to do, I block his punch with one hand. What, my hand didn't break off? I open my eyes and see my hand glowing! I must have summoned my light magic..."Light magic. So, you really are the Sage of Light," Ganondorf says, watching his hand sizzle quietly from the magic. Then his fist turns black with evil magic, sending a wave of jolting pain through my body. I scream in agony and fall back, onto the bed. Dang that hurt! He leans over me and grips my neck with his huge hand, staring at me with those bloody red eyes. "You obviously haven't got the hang of your powers yet." He smiles wolfishly. "And you never will. Since you won't work for me again, I've got a little question...what is Link's weakness? You must know it. He's weak to dark magic, but not weak enough. He must have a worse weakness. What is it?!" I cringe from his yell and choke from his grip. I'm going to die...
"So, how long do you think it will take for Ganondorf to come in here and kill us, eh?" A soldier asked aimlessly.
"Don't be so pessimistic! We are Royal Guards and Hyrule Army soldiers! We aren't going down without a fight." Another one said. "We've only been in this Fortress for about half an hour. He'll probably come soon, and we'll attack him."
"How do you expect to do that, behind bars?" Corb asked irritably. He and the other soldiers were all together in a large cell. Three cell walls were bars, and the back of the cell was connected to the stone wall of the huge room they were in. Corb had only been semi-conscious when they got to the place they were in, but he had observed that it wasn't that huge of a place, so why was this huge room here? The place felt bigger than it should be...All the soldiers's attention was drawn to the right side of the room (there was a large entrance there) as Ganondorf came striding through it, followed by three monstrous demondragons.
"Link, look! We finally found them!" Sheik said excitedly, pointing. He and the Princess had been looking around the place for half an hour (and the place was quite big, despite how small it had looked on the outside. Link figured it must be some kind of spell, and that would explain the sensation they had felt apon enterring). Link simply said 'yeah'. They were on the opposite side of the room that Ganondorf was entering from, hidden behind a corner. Then they spotted the Gerudo King approaching the cell.
"Well well, it seems I've caught quite a few of you." Ganondorf said. Raptyrant came out from behind him.
"They've been talking about attacking you for a while now," The boney creature said. "By the way Lord Ganondorf, did you, eh...finish with your other prisoner?"
"I didn't kill him yet, if that's what you mean. I will wait for a better time to do that. By the way, has Llance returned from the battlefield?" Ganondorf asked, nearly to the cell.
"Yes, he arrived not ten minutes ago. Would you like me to summon him?"
"No, I will deal with him later. The fool....Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, I seem to have caught at least a score of Hylians. Some high-ranking ones, too. They will make nice prisoners...or nice meals." Ganon said, smiling and rubbing the chin of the demondragon closest to him. "It all depends on how well you men cooperate with me."
"We refuse to cooperate," A high-ranking Hyrule Army officer said.
"You refuse," Ganon said. "Perhaps your men are not so brave. I smell fear." Ganondorf opened the cell and stepped inside, locking it behind him. Some soldiers tensed up, but none attacked. "It's this simple. Those of you that are willing to give me important information about Hyrule or the Hero of Time's weakness will live. The rest..." Ganon looked meaningfully at his dragons.
"My weakness? What the heck is he talking about? This is getting more confusing by the minute! He takes my puny ocarina, doesn't take my triforce, doesn't kill me even though he could, and now he's looking for a weakness despite the fact he kicked my butt? Everyone knows I'm weak to black magic...what's he looking for?" Link pondered.
"I don't know. This is very complex, he seems to be plotting something that involves you being alive. But now he seeks a weakness...I cannot figure it out." Sheik said quietly. Even the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom can't solve this enigma. I've got a bad feeling...why the heck would he want me alive? Link pondered.
"Shouldn't we help the soldiers, Zelda?" Link asked, his hand itching to draw his sword.
"If we charge in there now, he'll only kill them, Link. We need a plan." Sheik said, watching Ganondorf stare at the men.
"So, who has information and wants to live? You wont stay in here of course, because your friends would probably kill you." Ganon said. "I'll put useful prisoners in a nicer cell."
"Forget the idea, Ganondorf!" A particularly young soldier shouted. Link recognized him - it was Ector. Some soldiers still had thier weapons, but Ector was not one of them. That's why it was particularly unwise to run at Ganondorf as he did.
"Hah hah hah...You little fool." Ganondorf stopped Ector by grabbing his face calmly. He then walked to the stone wall and threw Ector into it, nearly making him unconscious. He grabbed the soldier's collar and dragged him to his feet. "Your courage is admirable. Reminds me of another boy your age. And trust me, that is not a good thing." Ganondorf drew his dagger. "Somebody better spit out some info now, or hero wannabe here dies." Link really, really wanted to charge, but Sheik grabbed his shoulder.
"Link, even if Ganondorf does stab Ector, I can heal it, remember? We have to figure a way to get Ganon out of here." Link looked around the room and noticed the ceiling was overgrown with dark green vines. Perhaps they could use those...
"Release him, Ganondorf!" Garret (yes, he had been captured, too) ran at Ganon, brandishing his long spear. Most of the other soldiers ran at him as well, hoping to overpower him with numbers. Ganon's knife turned dark purple and glowed with dark power as he spun around, attacking all the men surrounding him with what resembled a small, dark, half Kai-ten-giri. All the men fell back but Garret, who had blocked with his spear. Ganon grabbed that spear, broke it in half, and stuck the sharp end into Garet's chest before he could blink. It went right through the armor, poking out the other side. Garret! Dangit, we've got to do soemthing before he kills them all! Link thought urgently. Garret blinked a few times, looking down disbelievingly at the spear in his chest. Ganondorf, grinning, shoved him over and watched him scream in pain, coughing out blood.
"No....uncle Garret!" Ector yelled, getting to his feet. "I'm going to kill you!" He yelled, foolishly running at Ganon again. "I'm going to kill you, you murdering ba-" His words were cut off as ganondorf gripped his neck.
"Temper, temper. You fools are dumber then I thought. I may have to kill you all." Ganondorf muttered uncaringly.
"Zelda, I've got an idea." Link said, staring with rage at Ganondorf. How he wanted to stick a sword in him... "Levetate me or teleport me or something to the ceiling on the other side of this room. Then change my voice to sound like Llance's."
"Llance's? Why?" Sheik asked.
"He should be here now. If I can get Ganondorf out of here with his voice, you can break open that cage and heal Garret before he dies." Sheik nodded. The soldiers stared nervously at Ganondorf. With a flick of his wrist, he could kill Ector instantly. He squeezed his neck tighter, making the men flinch to see him suffer.
"I'm waiting." Ganondorf said. "And he's dying."
"Heartless bastard," A soldier named Bodac hissed. (sorry to those of you who consider bastard to be a cussword. I don't think it is) "You'd really just kill a kid like that?"
"If I must," Ganondorf replied. But something wierd came over his face and then to everyone's surprise, he threw Ector down. The boy coughed deeply, clutching his throat. "It seems none of you will talk. Commendable loyalty I must say, but it makes no difference to me. My demondrgaons were getting hungry, and I promised my three best ones they would eat human flesh." Ganondorf walked out of the cell and locked it again. "But first I have to cook you!" The soldiers gasped collectively. Ganondorf put his hand on a bar of the cell, and immediately the whole thing was alive with black lightening. The men screamed in pain but then Ganon stopped, hearing a voice.
"Master Ganondorf, please come quickly! I have some urgent news." Llance's voice said, seeminly from the entrance Ganondorf had come through. "I will only take but a moment, King. I am sorry to interrupt you." Ganondorf sighed irritably.
"Llance, you are in plenty of trouble as it is. This had better be important! My dragons, you can eat them now," Ganondorf said as he left the room, Raptyrant following. Crud! Link thought. How am I going to get rid of those dragons?! Link was about to say something, but was surprised to hear that his voice now sounded like Ganondorf's! The dragons walked up to the cell, the largest one pawing at the door...
"Wait, my dragons," Link called loudly. "There is first a much tastier human in here you can eat. Come and eat him first, and then you can eat those soldiers." The two smaller dragons eagerly ran out of the room, but the larger one looked suspicious.
"Are you not ssspeaking with Llanccce, Lord Ganondorf?" The dragon asked. It could talk! This dragon was obviously older and wiser thant he rest. His voice was not booming and proud like a mountain dragon's, but quiet and silky.
"He's the human I want you to eat!" Link said quickly, not able to think of anything better. The dragon raised an eyebrow, but obediantly left the room. Link sighed in relief, and the vine he had been hanging from broke. "Ahhghhhhh!" He screamed, plummeting to the ground and rolling when he hit it to lessen the impact. He didn't break anything. "Oweeee..."
"It's Link!" The soldiers said, all running to the side of the cell. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just peachy." Link mumbled, getting up and rubbing his back. "That was pretty smart, making my voice sound like Ganon's," Link said to Sheik as she ran over to the cell and began opening the lock. The soldiers bowed to her (everyone had long ago learned that Sheik was Zelda) as she entered, running to Garret and healing him. Luckily, he was a strong man, and was just fine. The soldiers filed out of the cell. "That was a brave thing, that heartless comment," Link said to Bodac as he passed. "Maybe it's what got Ganondorf to let go of Ector. I told you you were brave." Link and Bodac had been friends for over half a year. Bodac blushed.
"It wasn't that brave, and I'm sure he wouldv'e let go of Ector anyways..." He said. Now all the sodliers were out.
"Zelda, you'll have to lead them out of here," Link said. "I have something to take care of-"
"Don't even consider it, Link! You are not going to fight Ganondorf! Remember my dream? It will come to pass if you fight him!" Link sighed.
"But Zelda, listen to this. That white bird you said Ganondorf had all by itself...and that prisoner the dead lizalfos talked about...this guy must be somebody special. I can feel it. I think it's a Sage." Link said.
"Now that you mention it, I do feel the prescence of a Sage here..." Sheik said.
"Guess what, I'll find where this Sage is and try not to get caught. As soon as the soldiers are safe, contact me telepathically and you can come help me rescue him or her. Agreed?" Zelda frowned, glaring at the innocent look on Link's face.
"You're plotting something, aren't you? Well if this little stunt gets you killed, Link, don't come crying to me!" Sheik huffed, turning around. "Follow me," She said to the soldiers, and they all left the way Link and Sheik had come. I can't believe I convinced her, Link thought. Then another thought struck him. What if I get lost in this place, and Ganondorf finds Zelda? I'll have to follow Ganon and make sure that doesn't happen. He'll eventually lead me to the Sage, anyways...The stupidity of what Link was doing struck him as he rushed down the hall Ganondorf had gone through. If he wasn't extremely careful, he'd both break his promise to Zelda and proably die. But then again, would Ganondorf kill him now, after sparing him twice? It was a mystery...Link found Ganondorf sooner than he expected. He didn't see the demondragons on the way, (did they get lost?) and heard raised voices in the next room. He hid in the shadows of the arch leading to the room.
"Llance, what is your problem? You called and are not even in the next room, and I have to spend five minutes of my precious time looking for you?! Unless...." Link saw Ganondorf and Llance alone in the room. It was quite a large room, and the back of it opened to the sky, which was stormy.
"I did not call for you, Master. Something must be here..." He glanced at the arch. Link quickly moved to where he couldn't be seen, holding his breath. Had Llance seen him? Apparently not. "Has anything else unusual happened?"
"No, but something certainly has snuck in here if you did not call me. And that something has undoubtedly released the soldiers by now, curses! Oh well, it won't take long to stop them. First, I need to talk with you." Llance's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Llance, I graciously gave you plenty of time to re-group your drouge army after the heroes of this country scattered it. You could not do this, so I mercifully gave you one last chance to redeem yourself by ensuring that my demons captured useful prisoners. None have proved useful. The absence of your army caused the destruction of mine, and I am being made a fool of in my own castle because your prisoners are good for nothing but food. One may yet prove slightly useful, but not particularly. What do you have to say for yourself, Kaarinean?" Ganondorf semmed angry. Llance seemed worried.
"I can still be useful on the battlefield, my King...I have powerful spells..." He began.
"Silence! Your magic is not nearly powerful enough to make much of a difference on the battlefild. The truth is, Llance, your usefulness to me had ended." Ganondorf said, grinning and enjoying the spread of worry over Llance's face.
"But King, the month will change tomorrow, and my powers will be derived from a more widely-destructive constellation...King, I can be useful!" Llance said, taking a step backward as Ganondorf approached him. How many people does this guy bully every day? Link wondered. He must get a kick out of hurting people. That shouldn't surprise me...
"I don't need you, Llance. I attack with my demondragons next. Hyrule will not expect it, and with thier King gone, my dragons will easily obliterate their army. You can't possibly help." Ganondorf was now directly in front of Llance and stopped. Llance was actually pretty brave, considering he didn't run.
"Please reconsider, King...even if I can't be useful, please do not drag my country into this..."
"We had an agreement. You serve me satisfactorily, and I spare your puny country. You've broken that pact, and I fully intend to give you and your people what they deserve, death!" Link watched in indesicion as Ganondorf grabbed Llance's collar and shocked him with dark lightening. Llance must not be truly evil if that stuff can hurt him, Link thought. But he did try to kill me, and his drouges tried to kill my friends...should I save him? If I do that, Ganondorf will know I'm here...Llance screamed in pain and Ganondorf punched his jaw, sending him hurling to the ground. Llance didn't even fight back, knowing he couldn't win and fighting Ganon would only bring his people more pain. He got to his feet shakily. "You tried your best, Llance." Ganondorf sneered. "So I'll give you a pretty quick death." Ganondorf put his arms around Llance and began to crush him with his emense strength. "Enjoy the moment, Llance. This is the last hug you'll ever get!" He said, laughing as Llance screamed. Ganon was squeezing the air out of him, putting immense pressure on his much smaller body. Link couldn't take it anymore. Sitting back and watching people die, friend or foe, was not something he was capable of. Llance screamed louder and Link heard something in the Kaarinean break. Finally Llance couldn't scream anymore for lack of air, all he could do was gasp in pain. It was now or never.
"Leave him alone, Ganondorf!" Link shouted, jumping out from behind the wall and aiming a light arrow at Ganondorf. He didn't even have to fire it, because Ganondorf dropped Llance from surprise.
"Link...you are the one that's here...Hahahahahhaa! I shouldn't be surprised, should I?!" Llance coughed and tried to rise but couldn't. Link saw a trickle of blood come from his mouth as he looked up at him. Then Link heard a voice in his mind. Link...for saving me I thank you. But Ganondorf will still destroy my country if I cannot be useful to him. I apologize for this. Llance raised his hand and some invisible force threw Link against the wall. He found that he was pinned to it by magical barbs, piercing his clothes. "Llance, he just saved you. Are you a fool, or simply very loyal?" Ganondorf asked.
"Perhaps a bit of both," He lied, coughing weakly. Ganondorf laughed quietly.
"I can tell you could produce many spells like that one. Perhaps you could be useful to me, if you used spells like that on Hyrule's flying creatures...Get youself out of here, we'll discuss this later!" Llance made a tremendous effort and hauled himself to his feet. He cast an apologetic look at Link as he passed. Link wasn't sure if he regretted saving him or not. He probably did regret it, but his goody-good side didn't let him know. As Llance left, the barbs vanished and Link fell to the ground. Sheik had healed his wounds from earlier, but Link was still aware of just how vulnerable he was as he faced Ganondorf. He figured he would have to apologize to Zelda from the spirit world.
"Now all of you hold onto me or eachother. Make sure everyone is together, now." Sheik instructed. She had just made another Faore's Wind warp point (unlike Link, she could cast two at once) And her and the soldiers were outside the fortress, because she had lead them on the quickest path. She had also found and freed another prisoner on the way, a tiger-striped calwot called Tarisla. All the men and cat joined, and Zelda worked her transportation spell. It was an advanced type of Faore's Wind, and the soldiers and Princess were back at the castle in a rushing of green magic. They looked around and saw people helping get the dead and wounded off the battlefield according to Sahoriels's order. All the demon corpses were gone, so Sheik assumed they must have dissappeared in blue fire like last time.
"Queen Zelda, what would you have us do?" Bodac asked.
"Queen? I am not a Queen until I have a King with me. Just keep calling me Princess. You men help with the dead. I'm going back to help Link."
"Zelda, you're back!" Impa yelled, running to her. "Zelda, I have grave news. The Sage of Light is gone."
"What a wonderful time to show up, Link. And all by yourself? Whatever happened to your friends?" Ganondorf asked. Link didn't answer, only drawing his sword. "Eager to start, are you? No, maybe you're not. You don't seem as spirited as usual, Hero of Time. You know you're going to lose again. You will fail your country and make fools of the godesses." He grinned. "Now that you're here, I don't care if the soldiers escape. It's you I want." He drew his double swords "Give me your triforce, Link!"
"That's a dumb request," Link said, "Considering you could've taken it twice by now. What are you plotting? I'm not stupid, I know you're up to something. You took my ocarina and didn't kill me."
"Well well, he does have a brain. You think you're on to me, huh? Well then you know I'm not going to kill you right now. I'm going to do something I think might be much worse."
"Not if I can stop you..." Link said. Ganondorf laughed.
"What's more pathetic than a boy making threats he can't carry out? A boy making threats even he knows he can't carry out! Your voice lacks conviction. You might as well give up, becasue you're not going to beat me like that!" Ganondorf declared. He's right, Link thought. He knows I think I can't defeat him...this is pathetic! How am I going to beat him like this? Simple, I wont...Whatever he's going to do, it's likely I can't stop him. He's beaten me twice, I doubt it will be any different this time. I have no spirit to fight him with anymore..."Hahahahaha! Are you afraid of me, Link?! Bow down to me!"
"Yeah right! Even if I can't win, there's no way I'm going to roll over!" Ganon only laughed louder.
"You've just decided to risk your life for a man who isn't even going to turn good or thank you! Exposed yourself for the sake of a man who will go on the help me destroy Hyrule! FOOL!" Link looked at the ground. Ganondorf is right. I am a fool...why am I doing this? But if I don't, Hyrule will be destroyed...thinking of that always gave me courage before... why do I feel so utterly spiritless now?
"Hahahahaa! Prepare to be defeated, Link!" Ganondorf rushed at Link, slashing at him with both swords. Link blocked the blow, backing up. Ganon raised the swords over his head and brought them crashing down, onto Link's rasied shield. The force of the attack brought him to his knees. Ganondorf grabbed his collar and pulled him up until they were face-to-face. "This is sad, Hero of Time. You're not even puttig up a good fight. I'm sure you're wondering what I'm goin to do that will be worse than killing you for now, aren't you? Well guess what..." Ganon lowered his voice to a whipser. "I've got your brother, and I'm going to kill him slowly. Arghhh!" Link kicked Ganon's syomach very hard, making him drop the Hylian and back up.
"You've got Chain?! Release him while you still can, Ganondorf!" Link said, firing a light arrow at the king. Ganon was ready for it and dodged. Link than ran at Ganondorf, who jumped into the air and started throwing balls of evil magic at him. Link deflected them all with his sword, then performed the firery blast by jabbing his sword in Ganon's direction. Ganondorf had never seent his attack before, and simply raised his arm as the red magic flew at him. It tore into his arm, exploding and ripping at the same time. Ganondorf yelled and fell to the ground. Link rushed over and put the Master Sword to his throat. "Release. My. Brother."
"Curses, I shouldn't have told you ahead of time. I gave you your fighting spirit back...but no matter. That only means you'll be more fun!" Ganondorf dissappeared and suddenly Link felt a blade on his own throat. Ganondorf had reappeared behind him.
"Drop your sword, Link." Ganondorf commanded. But Link wasn't about to do that...the blade pressed harder, making Link gasp. "Drop it!" Link pointed his sword downward, as if he were about to drop it. Then remembering Ganondorf's reaction to touching the blade, Link touched Ganondorf's leg with it. The Evil King screamed and backed up, quickly forming a dark shield around himself to repel the sword's light magic. "I was beginning to wonder when you were going to use your sword's legendary power. I'm sure you've noticed by now that you can't summon all it's power." Link had noticed that, and raised an eyebrow. "My doing, of course. You'll find out what I did to you later."
"You did something to me, you sick lunatic? I don't care, I'll beat you anyways!" Link said.
"You can't kill me, Link. Don't you remember? All you can do is seal me in the Sacred Realm, and the Sages aren't around to do that." His black shield faded.
"I couldn't kill you in your monster form. What's to stop your death if I cut your head off in this form?!" Link said. Blast, he's figured out that I am mortal in this form...but if things get serious, I'll just transform. He's not a threat anymore, and when my weapon is complete and his spirit broken, I'll have the bloody revenge I've been dreaming of...Ganondorf thought. Suddenly Raptyrant entered the room.
"It's about time, you useless heap of bones! I summoned you minutes ago! Keep Link busy!" Ganondorf commanded.
"What? You think you're getting away? Not a chance, Ganon!" Link shouted, rushing at him. Raptryant did an amazing flip and landed right in front of Link, blocking his blow with his metal shield. Ganondorf vanished. "Dangit, you rotten coward!"
"You'll have to deal with me before you can go after my Master," Raptyrant hissed. Link thought his voice sounded familiar. Then he remembered the lizard. What other lizalfos could talk?
"You...you're that talking lizalfos I met in the Fire Temple about a year ago, aren't you?" Link asked. "You didn't look like a dead raptor back then..."
"Ah, so you remember me. The lizalfos that was smarter then the rest. The lizalfos that drove his blade into you and forced you to use your last red fairy, so that you almost died against Volvagia. The lizalfos you killed, brought back by Ganondorf!" Raptyrant hacked at Link, who blocked his blows easily. Dead or not, he still wasn't that much stronger than a normal lizalfos. Link cut at the raptor, who jumped backwards, then did a flip right over Link. As he landed he slashed at Link, who ducked and turned to face him. The raptor cut at him again and Link rolled backwards. Then he jumped to his feet and leapt at the dead monster, attacking with the jumpslash. Raptryant couldn't move fast enough, and was shattered into a scattering of bones by the attack. Then link heard him laugh as his bones re-formed. "Hahahaha! You cannot defeat an undead beast with an attack like that, Hero of Fools! You'll battle me for eternity because you don't know how to beat me!"
"Dream on, Bones." Link said, getting out his bow and firing a light arrow at the Raptors head.
"You'll never win, hhahahaha-" The arrow shattered the skull, destroying the monster permanently. Just when Link was about to run out of there and look for Ganondorf, he reappeared. And he had Chain.
I've got to hurry, Sheik thought, dashing down the hall as fast as she could. She had just arrived back in front of the fortress where her warp point had been. Once inside the fortress, she tried to contact Link. Please don't let me be too late...please don't let Ganondorf kill anyone...
Link stared in horror. Chain was bloody and weak already, because Ganondorf had obviously beat him up earlier. Link's universe was falling apart. His worst nightmares coming to pass before his eyes. He couldn't remember the happiness of the days before Ganondorf had returned. He could hardly remember what it had felt like to wrestle and have fun, to help rebuild the potions shop and chat with his friends...now he was in the blackest place imaginable, and his worse nemesis had his last surviving kin in his murdering clutches. There was no hope. Link was going to lose his last family member. Ganondorf laughed.
"Now what, Link? You're hopeless. You're afraid. Why don't you beg for your brother's life?" Link gritted his teeth in rage. Ganondrof held Chain by his neck loosely, his other arm holding his chest so he couldn't escape. Chain looked at Link.
"Link, I'm so sorry. I can't beat him, even with my new powers...and now he's using me against you..." A tear rolled down his cheek and he shook.
"Well, isn't this touching? Don't times like this make you wish you were the bad guy, Link?!" The King of Evil asked.
"Don't give in, Link! He's going to kill me anyways, but don't you give up! You're the only one who can save Hyrule! Don't beg for my life to make this creep happy - ugh! Let..go...of me..." Chian gasped, pulling at Ganon's hand on his neck that had gotten a lot tighter.
"Shut up, you annoying brat. Maybe I'll just finish you now. I could break your neck so easily..." He growled.
"NO! DON'T KILL HIM, GANON!" Link screamed. He was enraged and terrified. What action could he take?! I'm so helpless! Dangit, this evil monster is going to kill Chain and there's nothing I can do! Godesses, help me! Ganondorf laughed. Link hated his laugh.
"Beg, Link! Like a dog!" He commanded. I hate you, Ganondorf. Link thought, falling to his knees. I hate your guts...
"Please...don't kill him..." His voice shook with anger, which Ganondorf misinterpreted as weakness.
"HAHAHHAA! I didn't think anything would be more enjoyable than giving you physical pain, but this is great!" Link clenched his fist so hard it shook and bled. He was so extremely enraged he didn't notice Ganondorf's favorite demondragon, the large talking one called Darenkil, come in through the entrance that led outside to the storming weather. "Well Link, you've given me so much enjoyment perhaps I'll show a little mercy to your brother." Link looked up. His brother wasn't going to die? His last family member would be spared? It was too good to be true. And it wasn't true. "I'll give him a quick death!" Time practically froze and Link watched in terror as Ganondorf tossed Chain to the demondragon. It opened its wicked maw and swallowed Chain without even chewing. Ganondorf smiled. "Not a bad taste, eh, Darenkil?"
"NO! I...I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, GANONDORF!!!" Link took out his bow and shot a light arrow at the demondragon's neck. The arrow plunged so far into the beast's neck that only the feathers on the end of the shaft were showing. Roaring in pain, it collapsed. Ganondorf flew to it's neck and pulled the arrow out, quickly healing the wound with dark healing magic. Link ran at him in a blind rage, and Ganondorf barely turned in time to prevent himself from getting impaled on the Master Sword. Ganondorf kicked Link's face, making him stumble backwards. As Link stumbled his arms were spread, and Ganondorf slashed at both of his wrists with his double swords. Link hardly noticed the deep gashes given to him, attacking Ganondorf again. Ganon had to backflip and fly into the air to avoid getting cut to pieces, and as it was he got a few deep, painful slashes on his chest before he could escape. Ganondorf threw some black lightening at Link, and Link wasn't calm enough to have proper timing and deflect it.
"Eaughhh!" Link screamed as the lightening hit him full force, sending him flying backwards to hit the ground jarringly hard. Link coughed once and sat up, holding his burnt chest. Link, it's me, Zelda. Where are you? Zelda was communicating with him telepathically. I'm in the back, Link managed to think back, through the fire enveloping his mind. He staggered to his feet and was about to rush at Ganondorf again, but discovered him escaping on his cursed dragon. Link fired arrows at them and ran after, but knew he had no chance of catching a flying dragon. Darenkil dodged his arrows and was gone in mere seconds. Link stopped, putting his hands on his knees and beathing raggedly. Chain...Chain! Link couldn't think of words to describe his rage. Couldn't think of a name bad enough to describe Ganondorf. Link then became aware of how weak he felt. He looked at his wrists and saw that Ganondorf had cut both his arteries. They were pouring his life's fluid all over the stone floor, and Link grabbed his right wrist with his left hand in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. There was no point. He was losing it too fast. It didn't matter anyways. Nothing did. His brother was dead. Link fell to his knees and punched the ground so hard it made his fist bleed; which sent a large network of cracks spreading through the stone, centered around the hole he had made. Maybe it's best this way, Link thought, his eyes squeezed painfully shut. His head felt light, his whole body weak. His life was seeping away. I'll join Chain, wherever he is. Yeah, that doesn't sound so bad...Link pulled his dagger out of his boot and looked at it for a moment. He was dying anyways, why not make it a little faster? He took a few long, shuddering breaths. Slowly, he raised the blade to his own throat, ready to end his miserable existance, his servitude to the dieties which at times seemed to hate his guts...A soft sound drifted through the chaos in his mind.
"Link, what are you doing? Please don't!!" It was Zelda's voice. Zelda's heavenly, melodic voice. Link dropped the dagger. His head felt like it was drifting and his vision blurred as he looked at the arriving Princess. He fell into unconsciousness.
-whoo, angsty! I know what your gonna say, Link doesn't seem the type for suicide, but he figured he was going to die anyways and his brother was dead and wasn't thinking about anything else. You wouldn't think very clearly either if you were dying and your last family member just got killed by your nemesis! Anyways...will Hyrule castle be prepared for Ganondorf's attack with his demondragons? Will Link ever get his fighting spirit back? You'll find out in the next chapter so yeah...see ya next time...-Talonclawfange