hm, sorry about the format, I don't know why it's doing that...well, shouldn't be too distracting. btw thanks to all you reviewers, you make my day and you make writing this stuff worth it! Thanks a bunch!
Section 7
A Slight Hope
Link awoke with a splitting headache. As quickly as Sheik had healed him when she found him, he had still lost a lot of blood and would have to spend a day recovering unless Sahoriel could help. Since she was tending to her dragons first, Zelda hadn't bothered her yet.
"Link, you're awake!" Zelda jumped up from where she'd been sitting by his bed and ran over to him. "How do you feel?" Link almost laughed.
"How do I feel? Defeated. Destroyed. In pain. Full of hate. I hate hating. Hating hatred only make my head hurt worse!" He sat up and folded him arms around his legs, burying his face in them. "I can't take this anymore...why do I have to be the stupid hero? Becasue of my misplaced existance, Chain is dead. My whole family. Gone from this world." His right fist slammed into the bed beside him. "I HATE BEING THE HERO OF TIME!" His voice cracked. Zelda couldn't see his face, but was sure he was crying. It was the first time she'd ever heard of him crying since the Deku Tree's death. It was completely heart-wrenching. She got on the bed and sat next to Link, putting an arm around him and leaning on him. "It wasn't your existance...that caused his death..." Zelda said quietly. She couldn't resist it. She was crying now, too. Chain had been such a happy, funny friend...she couldn't believe he was gone, his short life extinguished in an instant.
"Yes it is! If we were just normal people, born in a normal time...if those rotten godesses hadn't chosen me to be their failure of a hero...Think about it, Zelda. We can't seal Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm without all seven Sages. Now one is...dead, and there's no way we can get another one before Ganondorf attacks with an army of demondragons. Hyrule's supposed to be saved by a hero now, right? Someone to step up and save them all from an otherwise unavoidable destruction?" Link asked bittery. "Well all they have is a zero! Ganondorf is stronger now, and I can't beat him! I couldn't even save my brother's life. I am weak, and everyone Hyrule will be destroyed because I let them down."
"Link, stop it!" Zelda cried, now openly sobbing. "You're not weak! You can still beat him him!" Link laughed, his shaky voice muffled by his arms.
"He can kill me so easily. I'm not any different from a normal Hylian to him now. I'm not invincible, and I can't win against that man. He's beaten me three times now!" Link said hoplessly. Zelda hugged him tightly.
"You are not a normal Hylian, Link. You were chosen to do this. Do you think the dieties would choose you if you were incapable? They are ruled by a higher wisdom than that, a diety that knows all. They picked you becasue you can do it, Link." She kissed his cheek, and he half looked up at her with his wet eyes. "You...you really think I can beat him, Zelda? But I lost so many times..." He said.
"Think about this, Link. The first time he got you cheaply from behind with a spell. The second time you were already weakened by his horse and other battles. The third time he had someone you love in his grip, plus he disheartened you with evil talk and the fact that he'd beaten you before. All you need to do is be in good health the next time you meet him, and don't pay any attention to what he says to you. I believe you can defeat him, Link. I think fate chose you for that purpose." Link looked at the covers in front of him. What if Zelda was right? Ganondorf had used pretty cheap tactics thus far. If Link could only get a fair shot at him, maybe it would be different. There was always a slight hope, a slight chance. Zelda noticed Link was all tensed up and rubbed his neck a bit. He calmed down. "You are truly wise, Princess." Link said. "But the fact that perhaps I can beat Ganondorf doesn't change the fact...that the monster killed my brother...and he may try to kill others to hurt me..." He buried his face in his arms again. "What if he..kills you too, Zelda?" Just then Taig and Cyphas walked into the room, with the Sages. Normally Link would be embarassed about crying, but the death of Chian hurt so much he didn't care. He couldn't stop it, so why be ashamed? "Aw buddy, cheer up." Taig said, even though his eyes were getting watery as well. Everyone had been told about Chain. "He's...in a better place," Taig said, raising a scaley and hardly soft paw to rub Link's back. "I don't think that's helping," Cyphas said. Her and the rest had sober, grim looks on their faces. Ganondorf would not go unpunished for killing the Sage of Light. Link looked up at all of them.
"I'm sorry...I failed you all, Ganondorf beat me again...I still think my chances of defeating him the next time we meet are slim to none..." He said dejectedly. "Link, do not speak of such nonsense." Impa said sternly. She was taking a gamble in taking this approach with Link, she might just hurt his feelings more, but then again it might make him learn something. "It is purely silly to think you can't beat Ganondorf. You are the Hero of Time, and you wield the one blade that was made to destroy evil, the Sword of Evil's Bane! I'd say his chances of beating you are slim to none, so don't think such rediculous things! So what if he beat you a few times. You are still alive, and so are we! Even if we don't have a seventh Sage, we can defeat Ganondorf and hold him captive until a new Sage arises." Link hadn't thought of that.
"Yes, what are you talking about, brother? You are as strong as a goron, you can defeat that two-timing dessert pansy, no PROBLEM!" Darunia declared.
"The spirit of the forest and goodness is in you, Link. You can't lose to evil with that." Saria said.
"Ganondorf is really a sad man," Nabooru commented. "He isn't as tough as he looks. He just intimidates his foes and tried to dishearten them with poisonous talk and subtle dispiriting spells. All you need is courage, and you've plenty of that!"
"My former future husband can't be defeated by and ugly old man calling himself King!" Ruto said. "I've never seen you so down, Link." Impa pointed out, "Your lack of belief in your own abilities has been holding you back in your fights with Ganondorf. Remember, you have the Triforce of Courage! It's as strong if not stronger than the Triforce of Power." "There's no way that old hack is gonna beat you again with us behind ya!" Taig said loudly.
"You may be a hopeless moron, but even you are smarter than Ganondorf," Cyphas said, grinning crookedly with her pointy teeth showing. This made Link actually smile, almost laugh. He looked around at all thier confident, believing, loving faces. They really believed in him. They weren't mad or dissappointed because he didn't beat Ganondorf. They were only encouraging him to dust himself off and try again. What wonderful people, He thought. I may have lost all my blood family, but I still have them. They are my family. "You're all so nice to me," Link said, half laughing, half crying and half hiding his face. "What would I do without you all?"
"You'd be toast, that's what!" Taig said his familiar line. Grinning, everyone who could fit climbed on the bed and all tried to hug Link at once. He let out a yelp and rolled backward to avoid the mass of bodies, and rolled right off his bed onto the floor. He raised himself to his knees and grinned at them, rubbing the back of his head. Everyone was so happy to see him smile it only made them smile more, which made him smile more. Link had never felt more loved. His friends had healed his spirit.
That night there was a giant feast. Not to celebrate, but to relax. Many had been wounded or killed that day (the total number of dead was over 500. It would have been twice that if the calwot protection spell hadn't still been in effect. The spell was so strong that it lasted for days). At the feast Zelda announced tearfully that a traditional, week-long burial ceremony would take place after the war for the fallen warriors and King (she didn't need to say 'if we win and survive the war', that was a given). Then she told Hyrule that Ganondorf would soon attack with his demondragons and gave an incredibly moral-heightening speech. Link had always said she'd make a great ruler, and she proved that as every man and beast left the speech with new courage. Many had fallen, but the war wasn't over yet, and there was still hope! So everyone ate and gathered their strength for the battle ahead. Goodness knew they needed it. Despite the overall grimness of war, many found it possible to be happy, and Link grealty admired their optomism. Their happiness even made him a little happy. Not only that, but the company of Zelda cheered him up since she had come to sit with him against the courtyard wall after her speech. His head didn't even hurt anymore because Sahoriel had used her advanced magic on him.
"So, how is Malon holding up?" Zelda asked.
"I spent the afternoon with her to cheer her up, but she's still really depressed about Chain. The cute little animals she's taking care of make sure she isn't too unhappy or lonely, though." Link said. He was referring to the baby unicorn, lavakatt, keaton and mokko that Malon was happily caring for. She had already decided that if her ranch was ever rebuilt she would keep the animals in a special barn so thier rough-housing wouldn't disturb the non-magical animals.
"This is all so terrible," Zelda said, thinking of both her dead father and Chain. Ganondorf was causing so much pain. There was no way they could let him continue. But she didn't want to talk about dismal subjects, as unavoidable as they were. She wanted to enjoy the time she had together with Link before the bloodshed began anew. "But I think we'll find a way to pull through, Link. Hyrule has seen country-splitting wars before and survived. We are a strong country, now even stronger with all the friends we've made. Almost all our allies are thanks to you, Link." Zelda said, slipping her arm around him in what she thought was a clandestine movement. Link blushed slightly. "Well, I'm just glad I could do some good, Princess. I think we can beat Ganondorf if we all work together, and I happen to know that you're a better strategist than anybody I've met. I'm sure you've got the perfect strategies to use all the race's abilities to help eachother." Zelda nodded.
"Nobody's perfect, but I think the strategies I have in mind will work. Now that we know what Ganondorf has in store, we can prepare for it. That gives us an advantage." She said, looking up at the sky. It was still mostly cloudy (like usual) but wasn't raining, and the moon began to peek out into a small hole in the cloud cover. Link was looking at it, too. "Perhaps in the best case senario we can do what my father wanted and have enough forces left to seige Ganondorf's castle. But enough of that subject...where's Cyphas and Raykel?"
"Probably kissing in a tree," Link said, the words of his brother tearing at his heart. "But let me show you something that's a lot more fun than kissing in a tree," Link said, His arm snaking around to Zelda's other side. "Tickling on the ground!" Zelda let out a girly shriek as Link tickled her, and she rolled around on the ground for a few minutes before finally twisting out of his reach.
"Now you'll get it," Zelda said, leaping behind Link and grabbing his head, giving him a royal noogie. He simply let her do it for a moment because it didn't hurt, but then she really dug her knuckles in.
"Ow, hey!" Link said, grabbing her arms and turning around. When the two of them retired to thier rooms later that night they were quite exhausted from tickling and giving noogies to eachother. Both of them rested peacefully, not plagued by evil dreams like normal. They were properly rested when the morrow came, and ready to prepare for the battle of their lives.
Section 8
The Plan and the Past
The dawn was bright and beautiful because there was a space between the horizon and the clouds that permitted the sun's warmth to be seen. Link and many others were watching it as everyone in the Hyrulian military was slowly waking. Link watched it from the balcony outside his window, accompanied by Zelda.
"It felt strange to wake up this morning and not look over to the other bed and see Chain sleeping in it..." Link muttered. He tried to avoid the thought of his brother, because every time he thought about him it hurt so much he almost broke down and punched something or cried. "Yes...and it is very strange to wake up knowing well over 2,000 creatures are depending on me for leadership because my Father is gone..." Zelda sighed unhappily. Being a leader wasn't really going to be so bad, but she already missed her Father's smile and gentle words. No matter what issues of the Kingdom had pressed him, he had always found time to spend with Zelda at least once a day when she was a child. Sometimes he had been stern and even pigheaded, but he had never yelled at her in anger or said anything heartbreaking. He had been a good Father. Zelda brushed away a tear irritably. Link put his arm around her waist and the two of them leaned on the railng, staring at the bright, colorful sunrise. "Everything will be okay...you know, I bet your Father is very proud of you for the leadership you've shown so far." Link said. "I know I am." Zelda smiled and looked away.
"Thank you," She said simply.
"Now all we need to do...when this is over, of course...is to find a Prince that deserves you and will be an equally good leader." Zelda looked into his blue eyes with an expression on her face he did not recognize.
"A Prince...? But Link..." "Bombs away!!!" The two Hylians were surprised to hear a voice above them and looked up. Taig was swooping at them! They scrambled out of the way just in time to dodge his sloppy landing. "Aw rats, I still have to work on that," The young dragon said. "The Great Taig will someday be great at landing, I promise that! So, how are you two? Everybody's awake and eating breakfast now."
"Taig, your voice..." Link said, a look of confusion on his face. Taig grinned widely.
"My coming-of-age birthday is in one week, and my mature voice came in early! Isn't that GREAT?" Link and Zelda had to plug their ears. "Yes, that's wonderful," Link said, "But could you not scream in our ears, please?" Taig smiled sheepishly.
"Hey Taig, want to put your new voice to good use? Will you fly around and tell everyone to meet in the courtyard in fourty minutes?" Zelda asked.
"SURE!" Taig shouted, backflipping off the balcony and flying over the castle. Link shook his head and smiled.
"That dragon...gotta love his big head, no?" They watched Taig go and suddenly they saw Faraws come from out of nowhere, zoom right over Taig while licking his cheek and head, then laugh and fly away. Taig laughed at the challenge and followed her, and Link and Zelda could only hope he wouldn't forget what he just said he'd do. "Let's go get some breakfast." Link said quickly, and went back inside. Zelda stared after him for a moment, then followed.
Taig actually did as he was asked, and in fourty minutes everyone hd eaten and all creatures in the military (but not the citizens, they were still safe underground) were assembled in the courtyard. The Hylians, zoras, gorons and some flying creatures were standing/sitting on the grass, and all the flying creatures that couldn't fit there were perched on the battlements and towers. It was packed, but everyone was there. Zelda sttod on the wall above the drawbridge, which was slightly higher than the rest. Because she knew she couldn't project her voice far enough for all to hear, she used a spell which would allow her words to be audiable to all. "Good morning, Hyrule." Was the first thing she said. It was still a decently pretty morning, even though by this time the sun had slipped behind the clouds and was no longer visible. "I thank you all for taking the time to listen to me, and I also desire to say that I am proud to be leading such a wonderful gathering of races. You are all so wise and great that instead of arguing and rolling over like Ganondorf expected you to, you fought on when the King died. I know with teamwork like that, we are bound to win. Now I have a plan, and it may soud strange at first, but I believe it is the best way to combine our powers against the oncoming attack. You all know Ganondorf is attacking with demondragons, and there will be very few ground forces because we destroyed most of them. It is this fact that drives me to believe we no longer need ground forces. Don't worry, I'm not firing you! What I am suggesting is that the ground forced ride apon the air forces and combine thier might!" Both air forces and ground forces looked surprised at this. Sahoriel grimaced. "Princess, dragons are not beast of burden, and we do not bear humans no matter what the circumstances! I am sorry to contradict you, but I cannot relinquish the pride of my race."
"I expected that this would be your reaction, and that is why the ground forces will be riding on griffons, if that is alright with you, Cazan and Kozin." The leaders of the sea griffons and mountain griffons looked at eachother. They were proud races as well, but knew their back were perfectly shaped to bear humans, and for a good cause, carrying walking creatures was a measure they were willing to take. "We agree to this, Princess Zelda." Cazan said. "But only griffons larger than horses should bear men, because the smaller ones will tire." Zelda nodded.
"And are there enough griffons larger than horses to bear all 290 ground forces?" Zelda inquired. The griffons captains looked around at thier races. There were only 120 sea griffons and 130 mountain griffons, and betweent he two of them, there were only 220 griffons larger than horses. "It seems we've encountered a problem...I may allow the Royal Guard to stay on the ground and exterminate the rest of the demons, but there's only 50 of them, and when the demons are dead, they and the other 20 men will need to fly..." "Come on, mom!" Taig yelled up at his mother from her side where he had been sitting. "You said yourself that these are the best humans you've ever met. It won't be so bad to bear them if it means saving all our hides!" Sahorield was very proud and so was Cirokaal, but they listened to their son's idea and considered it. "Well, I suppose just this once will not hurt," Cirokaal said. "If it means saving Hyrule...but as we have only met human, we will only bear humans. No offense to you zoras and gorons, but you'll have to ride griffons. Nothing personal, but we have never met you." Darunia and Ruto (her Father was too fat to move from zora's domain, so she had taken over) looked slightly indignant. Cazan and Kozin looked slightly indignant that the zoras and gorons were insulted that they would have to ride them!
"Now, now don't let that wonderful unity and peace we've been having slip away!" Zelda said quickly. "If we war amoing eachother and let our alliance grow weak, we'll never win!"
"Yes, I suppose we can't expect the dragons to bear us if we've never met. They must be less trusting than the noble griffons." Darunia said. "And I don't mean that in a bad way." Ruto nodded.
"We're going to have to get along, so let the dragons be by themselves if they want to. They just wont have as much protection as the griffons will." The zora Princess pointed out. Sahoriel raised and eyebrow and was about to say that her dragons didn't need protection, but Link spoke up.
"Come on, guys! The zoras and gorons will ride griffons and a few hylians will ride dragons. Is there anything wrong with this? Let's just agree so that we aren't out here all morning!" Not everyone could hear him because he didn't have Zelda's spell, but the leaders heard him and reluctantly shut their mouths.
"Thank you," Zelda said. "Now then, if a griffons or dragon is carrying somebody, try to stay with that person, even if you're grounded or get tired and have to rest. It will be kinda like a buddy system. If your partner dies...then find another one. I don't want anybody by themselves, because the demondragons will be a lot easier to defeat if we gang up on them. I thought about how a lot of dragons and griffons wont have buddies, so I came up with something. Since there's about five times more calwots than there are dragons, I want calwots to break into groups of five and then team up with a drgaon that isn't carrying anybody. This team of calwots and a dragon must stay together, and I know if they do they'll have no problem beating a demondragon. If I've calculated correctly there should be about 320 dragon-calwot teams and 290 ground force-air force teams. Ganondorf will no doubt have thousands of dragons, so I expect each team to kill as many lone demondragons as they can before ganging up on the big ones. If we kill the small ones first and attack the big ones with many teams, there's no way we can lose! Does everybody agree to this?" A great cheer of agreement arose from everyone. "Okay, then. The only dragon and/or griffons who need not be in teams are the leaders. Speaking of which, Sahoriel, Cirokaal, Cazan and Kozin, I will need your help with something in Hyrule field. I will need the three biggest non-royal dragons as well. The rest of you form teams, and calwots, make sure a death-protection spell is on everyone. Have lunch whenever you want, and everyone meet back here at sunset." Zelda removed her spell, turned to Sheik, and jumped down onto Hyrule Field. Link and Impa followed.
"So what are we doing in Hyrule Field, Zelda?" Link asked he heard galloping and barely had time to brace himself before Epona tackled him and began to lick his face. "Ack, hey, that's really wet! Stop it, heheheheh." He had to push her soft nose away before she'd stop licking him. "I see you've had plenty of rest, Epona. I'd love to ride you in this coming battle, but it'll be an aerial battle, girl." His horse was very smart, but she didn't seem to understand that.
"We're going to dig some very large holes," Sheik said. Link got to his feet, with a curious look on his face. "You'll find out why later," She said with a grin.
After half an hour Link finally got Epona to understand he couldn't ride her the whole battle, but they reached a compromise. In exchange fer her to stop biting him, he'd ride her until all the ground demond had been killed, and then get on his griffon. Zelda said that she and Impa would be riding Cazan and Link would ride Kozin. After Epona left to horse around in the stables with Dark Sky, Zelda had Sahoriel, Cirokaal, Cazan, Kozin, and the five biggest dragons help her dig enormous holes. It took most of the day to make the holes as deep as Zelda wanted them, and after that they had lunch and helped people pair up that didn't have a team yet. By the end of the day everyone knew what team they were in and everyone had a death-resistant spell on them. At sunset, they all met in the courtyard as Zelda had ordered.
"This is incredible!" Was the first thing the Princess said. "I was almost certain there would be problems in picking teams, but you're all so cooperative it astounds me! This is unheard of! This must surely be the strongest Hyrule has ever been in it's history. I know you're all hungry so I won't talk too long and we'll eat dinner after this, but I have a great strategy I need to explain..."
Later that night when everyone had eaten dinner and was preparing to retire early and get extra rest, Link was approached by Sahoriel. He had been on the corner of the battlements and the huge dragon came down from her fortress and hovered over him.
"Excuse me Link, will you come with me? I have prepared something that I wanted to show you. I think you will like it." Link looked mildly surprised (even though it was hard to look anything while he clung to the wall to prevent getting blown over by the wind from her wings), and he stepped into her enourmous hand as she held it out to him. She then flew up to her Flying Fortress and enterred. She had closed her hand over him so he wouldn't get blown around, but it still wasn't a gentle ride (how could it be when he was in a room-sized hand of a dragon bigger than a castle). As she opened her hand and set him on the ground he looked fine for a moment, then just fell over.
"Whoa, I'm dizzy..." He said, getting up. This caused Sahoriel to laugh, and her laugh caused Link to blow across the floor like a dead leaf. "Whaaaaah!"
"Terribly sorry, Link. I'll try to be more gentle. Now let me put you on my shoulder so you wont have to run to keep up with me." The Queen walked over to Link and put him on her shoulder. "This isn't a ride, understand! But it will take forever to get there if we walk your speed." Sahoriel walked through the many black, branching halls of the fortress for a few minutes, taking so many turns Link quickly lost count. Eventually they came to a large room with red caprpet and curtains, and two life-sized statues of red dragons. Link recognized it to be the room he had fought the Dragonlord in. It had changed a bit, for example, instead of the human-sized throne and steps that the dragons had once stood by, there was now an enormous pile of gold and calwot-feather matresses. In the corner was the Dragon Portal, the huge portal the Dragonlord had once used to summon dragons to do his bidding. It was at least 300 feet tall and circle shaped, and the middle shimmered and waved like water. Sahoriel walked over to it and set Link down in front of it, then she sat down. "I'm sure you must recognize this portal Link, it is the Dragon Portal. But it is not only a portal, it is also a magical artifact that allows dragons with the correct magic to see visions of the past. I have meditates for hours by this portal, trying to pull up dreams and visions of a certain two people. I do not mean to pry, Link, but I have seen your mind and your desires. One of the dearest things to you is your family...even if they are all dead. When your borther died you thought about them even more. I tried to pull up images of your brother, but for some reason it did not work. Perhaps he is not far enough in the past. What I succeeded in doing was finding visions of your parents." Link's eyes widened in surprise.
"M-my parents...you saw them?" He asked in wonder.
"Yes, I have seen them. I also saw in your head that you have searched around and talked to many Hylians, but it seems that anyone who knew your parents is either dead or so senile they can't remember much. I thought you might appreciate seeing them yourself in this portal. You can't actually interact with them, only watch. And I only have images from about seventeen years back, just before they died." With that, the portal lit up with a bright light, and all the torces that had been lighting the room went out. When the bright light in the center of the portal faded, Link saw a raging battlefield. Chaos reigned as men hacked at eachother. It was the Great War of Hyrule, the one that had been stopped when King Hyrule unified the kingdom. The vision zoomed in, focusing on one soldier. This man looked somewhat like Link, only he was taller and his hair was longer and brighter, and his eyes were a light shade of green. He was fighting very strongly, defeating his foes without too much difficulty. In the background Link saw something else, a woman who was also fighting. She had long, light brown hair and startling blue eyes. On her back was a baby carrier with a newborn in it, and in her left arm was a small child. With her right arm she used a sword to fight off any enemies who got too close despite her husband's efforts. But there were so many enemies. It was obvious that the two would not escape. As the vision continued, Sahoriel explained some things she had discovered in her meditation. Link's father had been a Royal Guard for the previous King. His name was Lee, and he had been on the brink of being promoted to a personal bodyguard for the King when the war started. His wife, Kirina, had also wanted to be a soldier and bothered the King about it until he finally passed a law so that women could be soldiers, too. She had only had two weeks of training when the war started, and her and Lee, along with baby Link and Chain had been forced to flee Castletown when it was invaded. Lee had succeeded in defending his King, but he, his wife and his troop had been cut off from the main forces. The story only got worse from there...
"Link, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Zelda said irritably, hands on hips. They had met in the hall when link was on the way to his room. Everyone else was already asleep. Link quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry, Zelda. Sahoriel was showing me something and I didn't tell you where I was going to be. Forgive me?"
"Yes, of course. I wasn't worried, I just wondered where you were. I've set magical watches next to Gerudo's Fortress and Ganondorf's small castle in Hyrule Field. As soon as demondragons start to come, everybody will be woken and get to their places. We need plantly of rest, so what was Sahoriel showing you so late?" Link was silent for a moment.
"The past," He said simply. He didn't want to talk about it, because it was a subject very close to his heart. He finally knew who his parents were. He had to dwell on what he had learned and accept it before he could share it. Zelda gave him a wierd look but left it at that, figuring he'd tell her more if he wanted to.
"Link, I forgot to tell you earlier...I had another prophetic dream." Zelda said, a look of intense sadness covering her features.
"I died again, didn't I? This is getting pretty repetative." Link said, frowning. "Well, I'm not surprised. You aren't the only one having bad dreams, you know. I've been having rather evil dreams since the day before Cosha died." An irritated look replaced the sorrow on Zelda's face. "Sorry I didn't tell you," Link said quickly. "I thought they were only common nightmares."
"Well, this recent dream, I'm sad to say, was worse than the rest." Zelda said. "First I saw somethig wierd...a red falcon killed a wounded balck falcon, and instead of a corpse, a white flower was all that remained of it." Link looked as confused as Zelda felt. "Then...well, you fought Ganondorf and lost. Badly. He cut you in half. And at the end of this dream...I saw no light like I've been seeing in the previous ones." For some reason, this information made Link's blood run cold. What if the light at the end of each dream had meant he lived? What if the absence of such meant he would not? Hyrule would be in great danger.
"Link..." Link was brough out of his thoughts by Zelda's voice, which had taken on a new tone. "Remember when you said we needed to find me a Prince? Well, I just wanted to say..." She hesitated. Should she really tell him what she felt? After all, if he liked her that way why would he suggest finding her a Prince? Showing her true feelings might just confuse him more or make him laugh. He obviously thought only Princes were fit for Princesses...she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Nevermind... good night, Link." Link walked up close to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He had a very strange expression on his face. What was that expression? He looked almost sorrowful, regretting...yet as his deep blue eyes looked into hers she could tell there was something else he was feeling, too. They stared at eachother for a moment.
"Good night, Princess Zelda." Link said finally, and went into his room.
Section 9
The Beginning of the End. Ganondorf's Weapon
A wicked grin was spread across the King of Evil's face as he sat on the back of his personal favorite demondragon, Darenkil. He was leading his greatest army yet, soaring high over Hyrule field. He and his army were above the clouds, so Hyrule Castle couldn't see him coming. Not only was this a powerful force that would probably crush Hyrule if it was in high spirits, but Ganondorf thought he had another advantage as well. King Daphnes was dead. The Princess and the country would be depressed about his death. The Hero of Time, if he wasn't dead and Ganondorf suspected he wasn't, would be completely devestated by his brother's death. Hyrule was not likely to put up much of a fight against his 1,200 demondragons. Ganon grinned, he was greatly enjoying his new powers. The power to summon demons and demondragons from their demension and have them serve him...as well as greater dark magic power than he had ever commanded. And nobody knew how he got it except himself and the one who helped him get it.
"We are nearing Hyrule castle!" Ganondorf shouted to his dragons and two surviving generals, Llance and Feelock. He wasn't too dissappointed about his other four generals dying because they had served their purpose... "Fly low but don't touch the tops of the clouds!" Ganondorf knew they were drawing nearer because in front of his army, still far away but getting closer, was the huge black cloud that contained the dragon's Flying Fortress. He was not foolish enough to attack that, it was indestructable, his army was flying high so they could swoop down and ambush the castle. He would have to do it soon too, because the sun was beginning to hurt his darkness-loving dragons. It had just begun to rise above the clouds.
"We are two thousand feet from Hyrule castle," Feelock said. "Very well then. Fall beneath the clouds! Attack Hyrule castle, and show no mercy!" As if Ganondorf had to tell them that. demondragons were killers through and through. The massive flying formation dived beneath the clouds, expecting to find a completely unprepared Hyrule castle. Instead, they found an empty one. "What in the name of darkness...?" Ganondorf looked down at the castle in amazement. There wasn't a single living person to be seen. He could see that they were all gone as Ganondorf's army flew over the castle. "Hhahahahaa! The foolish cowards must have realized they couldn't win and ran for it! How pathetic!"
"Wrong, King of Evil!" Ganondorf heard a loud shout and looked down. There was one lone person on the ground. It was Link, mouted on Epona. Then, the ground erupted. Hyrule Field's blackened surface had seemed smooth and unbroken, but it became obvious to Ganondorf that there were large holes in it as hundreds of dragons, griffons with riders, and calwots burst out of it, attacking the strategically weak underside of his army. "Curses! Kill them, dragons! If that's all the soldiers they've got, they still wont be a challenge!"
"Wrong again, King of Evil!" Ganondorf looked up this time. He saw Zelda riding on Cazan, firing spells at his drgaons. All kind of flying forced were swooping down from the Flying Fortress cloud, attacking the strategically weak top of his army. It was a massive ambush that begun tearing into the demondragons from both sides. Ganondorf growled in frustration. "Drop your monsters!" Ganodorf shouted to his dragons. Many of them had been carrying surviving demons and monsters, and they now dropped them down to the ground. Ganondorf hoped they would all attack Link (he had taught them to recognize him in his old and new clothes by now) but couldn't sit around and watch. Epona neighed happily as she ran through Ganondorf's last remaining ground forces (dropped only moments before by the demondragons). As she galloped through them, her rider easily dispatched all that attacked him. He was used to thier tactics by now, and they weren't too hard to kill. The Royal Guards (along with Cyphas, of course) were anihilating the ugly beasts, It wouldn't be long before they could join the melee in the sky. But some demondragons were on the ground as well, ordered to kill the Royal Guard by Ganondorf. Link met one such dragon. It hissed and bit at him like a snake, but Link simply held up his shield and the dragon bumped its nose on it.
"Come on, if one of you can talk, then surely the rest of you must at least be smarter than common animals..." Link said, making the dragon mad. As it struck at him again, Link simply stabbed the Master Sword through the top jaw of it's gaping mouth. Roaring in pain, it yanked itself off the sword and backed away, holding its jaw. Then a demon attacked Link from behind, tearing into his back. Link yelled and reached back, but the quick little thing eveaded his grasp. It's snake-felinish head darted around over Link's shoulder, and it was about to bite his neck when two arrows hit it from behind, killing it. Link twisted in his saddle to look back, and saw Raykel and Cyphas holding thier bows, grinning. "Nice shot! Thanks, guys." Link said. They nodded and ran off to kill some other demons. While Link was still twisted another demon jumped at his front and he turned back around just in time for it to slam into his chest, biting and clawing. Link was almost thrown off his horse, but managed to kill the thing before it could do more damage. He looked down irritably at his mostly shredded shirt, torn up in both the front and back. It was barely hanging on, and Link wasn't about to go gallivanting around the battlefield shirtless, so he instantly changed back to his old clothes (It's not like he undressed! He changes instantly with magic). Zelda might not be happy, but the monsters recognized him anyways and he missed wearing his hat.
Link looked around and observed that pretty much all of the ground demons had been killed. Raykel whistled at the air forces, and the ones that were supposed to pick up the Royal Guard and Link came swooping down as quickly as possible, snatching the humans off the ground, placing them on thier backs, and rejoining the fray. Link bid farewell to Epona as Kozin came down and picked him up. In a rushing of wind he was in the sky, firing arrows at demondragons while Kozin fired ice spells. As Link looked around, he thought he would see Hyrule winning, but things actually weren't going so good. Despite Zelda's order to stay together, some teams had been sepparated, their members getting picked off by the evil dragons. The dragons proved to be more dangerous than expected, with their lightening quickness in the sky and dark fire. Some of them even breathed dark lightening or were smart enough to use spells. Hyrule was losing slowly, but still losing. Link heard some yelling that actually sounded happy above him and looked up in confusion. Feelock, who was still riding on a demondragon, had been met by Tarisla in the sky. Nobody knew much about Tarisla, but it was obvious that she was in love with Feelock as the two embraced. Now that he'd seen Tarisla was free and safe, Feelock had no reason to fight for Ganondorf. He killed the demondragon he was riding on and flew high into the sky. The calwot began chanting loudly, and little bits of lightening from the overcast sky began to surround him. Link remembered that this powerful cat had the power to control weather, and watched in amazement as all the black clouds began to float away and dissolve at an alarming rate. Soon the only cloud in the sky was the Flying Fortress, and that was only big enough to cast a shadow over Hyrule castle and the land behind it, not cover the whole battlefield. Sunlight poared into the fray, making every demondragon hiss with displeasure and slight pain. "I love that cat! Whoever that powerful guy is, he just gave us an advantage!" Kozin shouted, freezing two demondragons that had been squirming in pain from the bright sun. Another happy turn of event happened as Llance decided to change sides as well. He had been pinning Hyrule's flying creatures's wings with sharp barbs of magic, but now he turned on his violent master Ganondorf and began pinning demondragon wings, and casting haste spells on Hyrule's allies. Ganondorf's scream of rage was audiable over most of the battlefield.
"Curses! You two will pay dearly for this treachery!" The Gerudo King yelled. He was practically enraged. The tide of battle shifted, and now Hyrule was no longer losing. As the demondragons became more used to the sunlight and fought back, it seemed as if the two armies were doing equally well. It was still and awful sight, though. Blood fell down apon the land of Hyrule like rain. Link hoped that soon the war would be over. "Feelock and Llance will die slowly for this," Ganondorf hissed under his breath, shooting black lightening at an attacking calwot. Ganondorf had to make a quick decision. It was go and get the rest of his forces in the middle of battle, or lose to Hyrule. Ganondorf still had a few hundred demondragons he could summon from his castle, plus he hadn't attacked with his Gerudos yet, preferring them to stay alive since there weren't all that many of them (a bit less than 200. Even though there was few of them, the Gerudos were mad about not being able to fight and would jump at the chance). If he flew back to his mini fortress he could summon the dragons and use a trasportation spell to get his Gerudos. He had to chance leaving the battlefield for over half an hour to do that. He cursed loudly, ordering his dragon to fly back to the fortress in Hyrule Field. As he was leaving he spotted something that made him grin widely. Zelda. If he captured her and stole her triforce, he would be twice as powerful and dang near impossible to kill. If he did that, even if his army here was defeated, he could lay low for a while and gain the powers to summon an even bigger one, if he needed it. Plus, if the Princess of Hyrule and Sage of Time was gone, what good would the Hero of Time be? It would be even more impossible to seal him in the Sacred Realm, and Ganondorf knew Link liked the Princess very much...her death would break his heart.
"Are you leaving already, Ganondorf?" Zelda asked, Cazan diving at Darenkil. The huge griffons and dragon (Cazan was only slightly smaller than Darenkil) locked talons and flapped madly to stay airborne, biting and clawing at eachother fiercely. Zelda shot a blast of light magic at Ganondorf, who managed to dodge it thanks to his dragon's violent twisting and biting. The next time Zelda came into view, Ganondorf threw two balls of evil magic at her, one that went straight and another that twirled and changed directions several times in its course. Zelda blocked the first with a light shield, but couldn't avoid the second as it zipped around and hit her in the back. She screamed and began to fall, and Ganondorf hit Cazan with some black lighteneing. The King of mountain griffons screeched like a hawk and fell back in pain, and Darenkil dived towards the falling Zelda. He opened his wings when he was under her, and Ganondorf caught the unconscious Princess. Grinning, he cast a powerful speed spell on Darenkil, who flew toward Ganondorf's mini fortress with all the speed of the wind.
"Kozin, look! Ganondorf is escaping!" Link shouted to the giant griffon he was riding. "He must be up to something, I've gotta follow him!"
"Whatever you do, don't tell the army. If they stop fighting demondragons to go after Ganon, the dragons will kill them from behind. I'd follow him, but I can't just leave my people here," The sea griffon explained. "I'll put you on a swift griffon." Link nodded and after a moment Kozin found a quick sea griffon and Link leapt onto his back. According to his King's orders, the griffon casted a haste spell on himself and followed Ganondorf. While most soldiers were too busy figthing to notice the fleeing Gerudo King, the Sages, Llance and Taig noticed and followed. "Is it alright if I drop you off at his fortress and return to the battle?" Link's griffon asked. "Yeah, that's fine. Just fly as fast as you can." Link said. He was close enough behind Ganondorf to have a clear view of his back. Something pink was fluttering from his arms..."S-shoot! I think he has Zelda!" "He's got the Princess? I'd better really hurry!" The griffon said, pumping his wings and using the currents of the air to go as fast as possible. It usually took half an hour to get to Lon Lon Ranch by air, but at the incredible speed they were flying at, Ganondorf and his persuer got there in just over ten minutes. The demondragon swooped down into the large entrance and made a smooth landing, dashing inside. Link's griffons got there only moments later, and Link hopped off his back. "Thanks a bunch, pal. Good luck in battle!" The griffon grinned.
"Any time. Speed is my favorite thing to exhibit. Be careful, my friend." With that the griffon took of in the direction he came from, soaring back to Hyrule Castle. In the distance, Link saw seven flying creatures approaching. They must have seen Ganon run, too. He thought. But I don't have time to wait. They can catch up with me. Link ran inside the black, dimly lit castle without a glance backwards. What he didn't see was a huge, blackish-purple barrier Ganondorf erected over his castle only moments after the Hylian enterred. The shield had been meant to keep Link out temporarily, but in the chance he got past before the barrier could stop him, there was a second line of defense. After a few moments of running, Link met Darenkil.
"Ray, you did just see Link and the sages follow Ganondorf out of here, right?" Cyphas asked Raykel as they fought demondragons together over Hyrule Castle on the backs of two small dragons (small being wagon-sized). "Yeah, I saw it. I'd want to follow, but I hate to think about what would happen here if we lost this battle. If many more of us leaves, that's a real possibility. Crud...look, Cirokaal is leaving!" Raykel said, pointing. "With him gone, our chances of losing just got higher. We've gotta pick up the pace! Say, we don't have light magic, but Sahoriel has some...I've got an idea. Keep fighting Cy, I'm going to go talk to Feelock and Sahoriel!" Cyphas nodded and blew him a kiss, grinned, and went back to hacking at enemies.
"Great, just great!" Taig growled frustratedly, glaring at the purple and black wall preventing him and the Sages from following Link. None of them had light magic to break the barrier with, and even Llance with his strange spells couldn't do anything. "Aw, man...Link's gonna get injured in there, I just know it! What will he do without the Great Taig?"
"We'll just have to stay here in case he comes out," Impa said. "Or we somehow find a way to break the barrier. We've got to keep trying. You griffons have been a great help, but we won't require you to stay here with us," She said to the griffons the five Sages had been riding. Relieved, the griffons took off. "This is very serious," Llance's cool voice spoke up. "From within that fortress, Ganondorf can cast many advanced spells. He may have reinforcements he never told me or Feelock about. Either way, you said he has the Sage of Time...and I take it that's very bad."
"Very, very bad!" Saria said. "Come on, let's try to blast it with all our power combined!" She suggested. It was then that her and the rest saw Cirokaal approaching.
"We meet for the lassst time, human. I shall devour you asss I did your brother." The dragon's inscisive, slick voice irritated Link already. And that was besides the fact that he had just said something Link would make him regret.
"Don't get too cocky, you slime. Dragons aren't that much of a problem for me." Link growled. "And as for what you did to my brother...for that, you will die." He said, glaring knives at the dragon. The Master Sword made a sharp ring as it left its scabbard.
"If it isss any consolation, your little pessst sssibling gave me indegestion...I don't even think the little punk has digesssted completely yet. But thisss sssteel ssstomach can handle anything, so in a few days your brother will be nothing but a - ARGGGG!" The dragon roared in pain from an arrow that lodged itself below his left eye. Link had pulled out his bow and fired faster than the dragon could even keep track of! He decided to shut his scaley mouth.
"Trust me dragon, you don't want to make me any madder than I already am!" Link shouted, putting his bow away and rushing at the dragon with his sword. Link cut at the dragon's belly (he had to stretch upward to even reach it), but since the dragon was so big its belly scales were too hard for the Master Sword to cut. Before Link could try and hack at the smaller scales on the demondragon's arm, it jumped back.
"You wont beat me like that, sssimpleton. Without ledgendary magic covering your blade, your effortsss are ussselesss." The dragon pointed out. Link wondered why he said that. Did he want to die by telling Link how to kill him? Link called forth the light, evil-repelling magic of his sword. If the dragon wanted to die so bad, he'd give it its wish. Luckily for Link, the hall they were fighting in was definately not big enough for the huge dragon to fly in, and the dragon was actually rather cramped, so it couldn't run very fast as he charged at it a second time. Darenkil's eyes glowed the color of blood as he opened his jaw and black fire came exploding out at link. Link pulled out his mirror shield, but reflecting the fire didn't do much good since the dragon was immune to its own attack. Instead the dragon only made its stream of fire more intense. The fire broke apart on Link's shield, flying in all directions and heating the metal. Plus, since it was evil fire Link was weakeing from simply being near it. It stuck Link that he was blocking with the wrong object. He lowered the mirror shield and pointed the shining Master Sword's tip right into the fire. The collision of the flames on the light-covered blade resulted in a shock that threw Darenkil into the wall behind him. "You'll have to do better than that," Link said, dashing toward the grounded dragon. Darenkil chanted a quick spell as Link neared him, and black spikes jutted up from the ground right under Link. They would have skewered him if he didn't jump at the last minute, landing on the dragon's upper arm and sticking the full length of his sword into it. Darenkil's roar of agony was so loud Link had no doubt Ganondorf had heard it. Good, Link thought. Let him know I'm coming for him. Let him know he's going to be destroyed. Darenkil collapsed completely, and Link, yanking his sword out of the beast's arm, strolled up his shoulder and onto the top of his neck. He raised his sword over it.
"Pleassse....are you really going to kill me, sssweet human? I thought you were not a murderer..." The dragon hissed.
"MURDER?! Define murder, you stinking heap of scales! Murder is what you did to Chain! What....murder is, is what...I'm about to do to you..." Link said, the realization of it hitting him. This dragon was intelligent like a human, like a mountain dragon...were they not people? Would not killing this dragon be breaking his vow, just like when he killed those other poor dragons.
"Pleassse kind human. Do not take my poor life...pleassse forgive me, sssweet human...." Link growled in irritation. He knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't kill a person begging for his, or its life. If this was the way he felt about the dragon, how would he react if Ganondorf was the same way? "I don't know if I can ever forgive you," Link said harshly. "I always try to forgive my enemies, but you took something from me that can never be replaced. But...I can't kill you. Just never let me see your disgusting face again, or I may not be so merciful, got it?" The dragon nodded weakly as Link stepped off of him. Link left down the hall to go find Ganondorf, and Darenkil began dragging himself in the other direction. Ssstupid, rotten human...I can't believe I couldn't kill it! I'll have to try agian later. For now I must leave, because if Ganondorf findsss out I didn't fo my job, he'll kill me...Darenkil had barely enough strength to drag himself outside, but as he was looking at the ground he couldn't see what was out there. He went though the barrier (since he's evil, he can do that) and stopped dead in his tracks when a pair of red dragon paws came into his view. He looked up weakly and saw the Sages, Llance, Taig and Cirokaal staring at him. "Pleassse, kind creaturesss, do not-" He didn't finish his sentence as Cirokaal grabbed his skinny face and dragged him closer, driving his emensely strong fist into the demondragon's gut. The larger dragon had hit the demondragon so hard it messed up his insides, and as Darenkil collapsed he spat enough blackish blood to fill a swimming pool. He spat something else as well. It was a large ball of light. "What the heck is that?" Cirokaal wondered, stepping over to the ball. The rest got close to it, too. Slowly, the light faded and a person dropped out of it. They were all astounded to look apon Chain's unconscious but virtually unharmed body.
As the darkness in Princess Zelda's mind cleared, she awoke in a dark, cold place. She immediatley realized there was a strain on her body, but coudn't see for the blackness of where she was. She tried to move, and found that both her arms and legs were tightly locked under metal bands. Her head fell forward from gravity and she knew she was secured to a wall, high enough up that her feet didn't touch the ground. As soon as she was fully awake, she noticed a dim light. She looked forward and saw a purple glow, surrounding a strangely-shaped object...it looked like a weapon. Then the purple light went out and all was black for a few seconds, before the entire room was lit by the torches lining the wall burting into flames. There ones were lit with normal fire for a change, instead of the odd green stuff that lit most torches in Ganondorf's castle. But that wasn't the first thing Zelda noticed. The first thing she noticed was Ganondorf's ugly face as he grinned at her. She looked at the ground quickly, irritably telling her body to quit shaking. She was helpless now. The King of Evil had her where he wanted her.
"So, her Royal Highness has finally decided to join us, I see." He said quietly. Though he hadn't said anything threatening, his very voice was terrifyingly threatening. Zelda shuddered. Ganondorf laughed deeply. "Hhahahahaha! Are you afraid of me, Princess? You should be." He got close to her and put a cold hand on her chin, roughly pulling it up and forcing her to look at him. "Guess what? Your little boyfirend is coming to save you right now. What he doesn't know is that he'll die when he gets here, unless you give me your triforce right now." Zelda was quite frightened, but had enough prescence of mind to speak. She had to at least pretend she wasn't scared.
"Forget the idea, Ganondorf. I'm not going to give you my triforce, now or ever. If you think you can kill Link, you've got another thing coming. He'll beat you, it's his destiny!" She let out a short yelp as the Gerudo King slapped her.
"Wrong answer, girly. By the way, what makes you think I can't beat him now? I've already beaten him three times!" Ganondorf said. "That was just a love tap. Refuse again, and I'll do some real damage."
"Beat him, you say? Quite dishonorably! The first time you hit him cheaply from behind, the second time you couldn't kill him because the calwots were coming and you had to flee. The third time, you were running from Link, even if he was dying! 'Defeated' my pointy ears!" She gasped and closed her eyes as he raised a fist to punch her. "Foolish girl! You know far too much because of that triforce of yours. Do you want me to kill you to get it? If you make me do that, I'll kill Link too. I'll have the pleasure of seeing you both die. If you two would just hand them over, perhaps I'd let you live as my servants, but no!" Ganondorf punched Zelda's stomach, and even though he hadn't meant to really hurt her bad yet, he was angry enough that he broke a rib. Zelda screamed in pain, and a bit of blood as on her lips and Ganondorf raised her face again. She tried to cast a verbal spell on him, but to her surprise, nothing happened. Ganondorf grinned conescendingly. "Do you really think that metal would hold you if I let you keep your magic? Unfortunately for you, I know magic-repressing magic. You will be incapable of casting any spell you've learned for the next hour." Zelda closed her eyes, a frustrated grimace covering her face. She felt Ganondorf's hand leave her chin and punch her across the face. "The Triforce of Wisdom!" He shouted, and Zelda shook her head. She let out a low moan as he hit her again. Link, where are you? She wondered, and heard Ganondorf mutter something inaudiable that sounded like a curse. "He's here..." Ganon growled.
"Wake up Chain, by the power of the stars over Kaarinea." Llance muttered something and drew a symbol on the air above Chain's unmoving face. His blue eyes fluttered and opened. "What....happened to me?" He asked weakly, looking up at Llance. His eyes widened a bit at the sight of the Kaarinean. "Are you going to kill me?" Llance shook his head.
"I've changed sides, Sage of Light. Do you remember anything? Ganondorf fed you to his dragon." Llance said. Chain's eyes widened as memoried came back, and he sat up. "Yeah, I remember...the jerkoff was trying to hurt Link by killing me. All I remember before I blacked out in that dragon's throat was something stabbing my side." Chain looked down at his side and saw a bloody wound that strangely did not hurt like the rest of his wounds. He felt something in that wound and as he touched it he felt something hard. He withdrew an arrowhead. Supprisingly, the painless wound closed up instantly. "What on earth..."
"Ah, this is the effects of light magic," Llance said. "Though I do not posess any powerful light magic other than healing, me and my people are a race of magic-users, and we study the effects of magic extensively. Did anyone shoot a light arrow at you?" Chian shook his head in confusion.
"Link might've shot a light arrow at the dragon after it ate me, and hit the part of it's neck I was being swallowed in."
"That must be exactly what heppened, by the looks of it," Llance said, looking at the lace the arrowhead had been. He continued, his calm, almost kind voice making Chian wonder how he could've ever served Ganon. "As you were being swallowed, Link magic arrow pierced the dragon's neck and hit you. Since it's light, it couldn't really hurt you, and that's why the wound closed up. Anyways, the lgiht fromt he arrow woke the lgiht in your own body, as you are the Sage of Light. Your power, combined with the arrow's power, surrounded you in a magic shield which prevented the dragon's stomach acids from hurting you. This is a very strange effect...but light magic is one of the oddest and most powerful magics. Some say it almost has a mind of its own."
"Like the Master Sword?" Chain asked in wonder. "I do not know this sword, but if it is a legendary weapon, yes, it is infused with a magic all its own that may even be capable of making decisions." The Sages as dragons whistled in awe. This man certainly knew a lot about magic.
"If you know so much, Llance, do you know of a way we can get into the castle? A spell blast from all of us didn't work." Taig pointed out needlessly.
"Now that the Sage of Light is here, I may know of a way," Llance said quietly, nodding.
"Welcome, Link. You're just in time for the fun." Ganondorf said. "Now that I have all three triforce holders in one spot...I won't even have to call up my reinforcements! I won't even need an army for that matter, hahahahah!" Link surveyed the room. It was Ganondorf's throne room, lit by large torches on the curtain-covered wall. Most of the floor was black stone, but a red carpet covered the gorund leading to the spikey throne, elevated formt he rest of the floor by stone steps. There were various weapons on the wall of the relatively large room, and suites of armor (which Link gratefully noted were not Metal Knuckle - shaped. That last thing he needed was a couple of those) The only other things in the room was a table with some wierd liquid-filled bottles on it, and a full length mirror on an antique stand. He glared at Ganondorf darkly as he saw Zelda on the wall, her face bleeding.
"So Ganondorf...before we go at it I'd like to know...just why in the heck did you take the Ocarina of Time, why the heck can't I use my full power, and how the heck did you escape the Sacred Realm and get so powerful?" Link asked. "By the way, touch Zelda again and you're toast." Ganondorf frowned.
"You're in no place to be making threats, Link. You think your friends are coming, don't you? Well I just looked at them with my magic a few minutes ago, and they are all unable to come to your aid because of the barrier I created around this castle. As for your dumb questions, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you the truth and rub my genious plan in your face before I kill you. That is, unless you prefer to hand over the Triforce of Courage and live."
"I think you know the answer to that," Link said calmly. His left hand was growing warm with a strange pulsating and he looked down at it. The Triforce of Courage was shning right through his glove, reasonating with the other two triforces. This always happened when all three were together.
"Indeed. I expected no less. Now then, about my plan." A grin spread over Ganondorf's face and something appeared out of thin air next to him. It was a huge, wierd-shaped sword. It had to be almost as big as Link! The straight sides of the blade were razor-sharp and looked like a normal sword; it was the tip that was different. It was rounded into a half circle, the sides of which jutted out slightly. Though it was round, it was razor sharp like the rest. The sword was shaped somewhat like the silhouette of a screwhead with smooth sides (if that description isn't enough, let's just say it's the sword from Super Smash Bros. Melee). The sword glowed faintly with black magic at regular intervals. "In the year that I was trapped in the Sacred Realm, I thought many times of how you beat me. You were just a brat, a shot kid with ugly clothes. How did you defeat the geatest sorcerer in Hyrule? It wasn't the strength of your triforce, I have one of those. It wasn't the strength of your love, because I have more hate for you than you could possible have love for anyone. It was your sword, Link. A legendary weapon with legendary power. I thought back and wondered if I could have killed you with the Sword of Darkness. That blade is infused with evil magic so powerful it rivals the Master Sword, but that cursed blade was created by the godesses and even the Sword of Darkness does not contain the amount of power that thing does. So, I decided to create my own legendary blade. Me, a mortal. Impossible, you say? Not with extensive study.
"There is a way to create a legendary weapon with power equal to the Master Sword's, I'll tell you how since you're so magically weak neither you nor Zelda could ever do it. To create a legendary item, you need two legendary items. One to draw magic from directly, and one indirectly. That's why I took the Ocarina of Time. It was my direct source of power. The indirect source, Link, is you...or more specifically, the power you evoke in the Master Sword. I needed a way to get that power, so I left you alive. You need the triforce of courage to use the power, so I didn't take that. Instead, while you were laying unconscious, I left a curse on you. When I carved words into your back, I created a curse that would suck the power you use and give it to me until I didn't need it anymore. This curse also made it impossible for you to use the sword's full power. Now that I no longer need magic the curse will leave, but before you rejoice let me tell you exactly what that means. It means that every time you used your sword's power, it was feeding my sword. Getting you to use your legendary magic and feed my sword was the sole purpose of all my generals, as well as every demondragon I've sent at you. My plan had worked perfectly, and by protecting your country with legendary magic, you have ensured it's doom! Hhaahahahaha!" Link stared at the huge blade. It didn't look so special.
"That warped piece of metal is supposed to be as strong as the Master Sword? Sure doesn't look it, Ganny." Link said.
"Don't call me that or I'll kill you, you fool," Ganondorf said shortly, making Link almost laugh with the abruptness of the threat. "Now that you're here, this sword can be reunited with it's indirect but main power source. It will become the legendary opposite of the sword that made it! This sword will become the Sword of Light's Bane! Hhahaha, it's all thanks to you, kid!" Ganondorf took out the Ocarina of Time. "Now that I don't need this anymore..." Link was about to shout in anger as Ganondorf tried to crush the little wind instrument, but it didn't break, no matter how hard he tried ot crush it. "Stupid legendary item..." In irritation, Ganondorf pitched it at Link's head, hoping it might break on his hard skull. Instead, Link just caught it and said 'thanks, Ganondork'. "Bloody boy!" Ganondorf yelled, but then he calmed himself and chanted something. Link wondered if he should attack him or not. It might prevent the creation of the blade. Then again, it would prevent the curse from being lifted as well. Not only that, but Link was very curious.
"Now come to life, Sword of Light's Bane!" Ganondorf shouted, gripping the hilt of the floating sword.
okay this is a cliff hanger, sorry, but I couldnt prevent it with the format of my stories and all....well depending on how fast I get reviews I should update soon, and the next section is the showdown between Link and Ganondorf! Don't miss it hehe. If you have questions or want to see my art email me. See ya next time -Talonclawfange