20. King of Evil
As soon as I saw Ganondorf I tensed, ignoring the vibrating in my hand. I did not attack him, or even make any sound, but I was sure he already knew I was there. Instead, I scanned the room. There was an organ at one end, where Ganondorf sat playing, and above it was the crystal with Zelda in it. I met her eyes, and she mouthed something I couldn't make out.
Suddenly, Ganondorf pounded on the organ, making enough noise to distract me from Zelda. "The Triforce parts are resonating," he said, turning, "they are combining into one again. The two Triforce parts that I could not capture on that day seven years ago, I did not expect they would be hidden within you two, and now, finally, all the Triforce parts have gathered here! These toys are too much for you, I command that you give them to me at once!"
Then he floated up into the air, reared back as though to attack, and hurled a huge ball of light at me. At me! I dodged it, rolling out of the way, but the attack had dislodged a lot of the floor and I almost went over the edge.
"Link!" Navi wailed. "I can't help you! Because of the waves of darkness, I can't get close! I'm sorry, Link!"
I didn't have time to worry about that, so soon as I got up I jumped the gap from the main part of the floor in the middle, to the edges that still clung to the wall. Looking down, I could see why only that part of the floor had fell: the middle was supported by a big column, which I had previously identified as a wall that I could probably climb.
I didn't have a lot of time to be marveling at the architecture though, because Ganondorf reared back again and seemed to suck up all the light in the room. Something about that attack was…familiar. Very, very, familiar.
When he threw the ball of light at me I deflected it with the Master Sword and knocked it back at him. He blocked it with his cape and knocked it back at me. It went on like this for awhile, and I was starting to lose my fine muscle control, thanks to my good friend adrenaline.
Luckily so was he, and he just barely missed hitting the ball of light on our umpteenth volley. He cried out and froze, vulnerable. Quickly, I pulled out my bow and a Light arrow. My hands were cramping from gripping the sword too tight, but I gritted my teeth and concentrated. I could. Not. Miss.
I didn't. Ganondorf bellowed with pain and sank down to the ground, where I ran up to him and hacked into his arm with the Master Sword. He bellowed again and knocked me back, but I got up and jumped into the corner of the room, one of the few places the floor would not collapse under me. There I waited for Ganondorf to attack.
He didn't make me wait long.
He reared back in the air and collected energy, but it took him much longer this time, and the ball of light was different color. So when he threw it, I ran.
The attack struck the ground where I had been only moments before, and it took a lot of the floor with it, even some of the floor I was trying to run on. But I managed to get to another corner safely, where I turned fast enough to make me dizzy and raised my sword just in time to deflect another ball of light like the first one.
Back and forth, back and forth, I was sure I would be the one to slip up this time. After all, there was no way I could be intimidating Ganondorf as much as he was intimidating me. Right?
But I was not the one to slip up this time, he was. I had been seconds away from being too tense to do this kind of careful fighting, but it seemed he had been even closer. Maybe it was because I was younger, or because I was on the side of good, either way he messed up, and I took full advantage of it.
I wasn't going to let him get up again, no way, so I aimed the Light arrow for his vitals. I missed, but I still hit him and knocked him to the ground. I ran up too him even faster than I thought I could, and used my momentum to drive the Master Sword right through his chest and out the other side. I twisted it as I pulled it out of him, and from his harsh breathing I knew I had hit the mark.
"…You…little… How could a kid like you…do this to me? Well…I won't let it end like this…No!" he coughed, and blood splattered the ground in front of him. "No…" he said again, then collapsed.
The tower rumbled, and the walls and ceiling collapsed. I dodged the falling debris as I ran toward where Zelda's crystal was coming down. As soon as it touched the ground it shattered, and I was there to catch the princess it had held.
"Hi," I said.
"Hi," she replied, smiling rather sheepishly. She got to her feet and stared at the remains of the crystal. "That…was not the smartest thing I've ever done."
"Probably not," I agreed, smiling. She was safe, that was all that mattered.
"Oh well," she sighed. "They say love makes fools out of everybody."
A shock ran through me as I realized what she'd said. Zelda clapped her hands to her mouth and looked at me with wide frightened eyes, but I just smiled. For the first time in seven years, I felt in control of the situation.
"I guess that explains why I've been such a fool lately," I said. Zelda's eyes widened even more, but before she could say anything the tower rumbled again.