PART THREE

This heart still believes

That love and mercy still exist

While all the hatreds rage

And so many say

That love is all but pointless

In madness such as this

It's like trying to stop a fire

With the moisture from a kiss…

And I hear them saying

You'll never change things

And no matter what you do

It's still the same thing

But it's not the world that I am changing

I do this so

This world will know

That it will not change me…

As long as one heart still holds on

Then hope is never really gone…

Chapter Seventeen—Cataclysm

I pushed open the heavy wooden door; it moved silently. Link stood just inside the Temple with his back to me, before the warp point, framed by the door and caught in a sunbeam, looking for all the world like a saint preserved in stained glass. My own image was on his back, reflected in his shield. I stared into my own eyes—Sheik's eyes—one last time, before I spoke.

"Link…"

He turned slowly to face me, looking more surprised than I would have expected. Maybe he was reacting to the way Sheik's voice shivered and my own crept into it. Years ago, Sheik had been a different person. Now that had to be the case again. I never would have thought I would have so hated having to let him go.

"Sheik…" he said, his own voice trembling.

We both knew this was the moment we had awaited for longer than we could say. I didn't know where to begin. I closed my eyes and let the words come to begin the tale from where it felt right.

"I've been waiting for this day… There are things I need to tell only to you… Please listen…"

I opened my eyes. Link was looking at me with an intensity in his gaze that I had never seen before, an indomitable determination that was almost startling.

"Of course," he said, his voice surprisingly quiet. "I want to hear everything you have to say. I want to understand you."

Our voices, even softly as we were speaking, resonated through the silence of this place. They always did.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"The day you led Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm, he touched the Triforce."

"I know," he said bitterly. I suspected he didn't like being reminded if his role in Ganondorf's ascent to power.

"He didn't take the entire Triforce."

Link blinked in surprise, taken aback, and moved towards me, in a gesture of faintly desperate hope.

"What?" he gasped disbelievingly.

"There was a prophecy," I began, "that if someone touched the Triforce who had all three of its elements in balance, they would gain the True Force to govern all, and the Sacred Realm would become a paradise."

I paused to breathe, because air for some reason didn't seem to be offering me as much strength as it normally would do. There was so much to say, and I had to be sure I explained it all just right.

"However," I went on, "the prophecy also states that if the one who touched it did not have all three of its elements in balance, they would only take that piece of it which dominated their heart… When Ganondorf touched it, this prophecy came true. He did not gain the True Force, but only obtained the Triforce of Power. The other two pieces went to those two people who had been predestined to hold them, chosen by the goddesses. Now, he seeks those two people, to gain all the powers of the goddesses."

All this was easier to say once I had gotten started. Link was staring at me with his mouth open in anticipation.

"Who…" he breathed, though I could see his mind racing as he weighed the possibilities.

"The one who holds the Triforce of Courage," I continued, "is…you, Link."

His eyes widened and he took in a sharp breath, as though I had confirmed something he had hoped for but not dared expect. Despite myself, I couldn't help feeling mildly amused by his modestly; who else would it be?

But that was the simple part. Everything else was so much harder.

"And the one who holds the Triforce of Wisdom…"

My voice was shaking with more emotions than I had known I could possibly feel at one time…

"…is the Seventh Sage…"

My right hand was burning as it had done seven years ago…

"…who is destined to be the leader of them all…"

I held my hand up to my face; the golden Triforce on it was glowing so brightly that it shone through the bindings that covered it. In a sudden explosion of real, divine magic exceeding my control, the façade shattered.

I stood in a gown fit for a queen, with an elaborately worked crown across my long hair, which streamed down my back in golden waves. I was adorned in the stunning clothes and jewellery of a Hylian Royal, a dress for the first time in years. I appeared before him the way I had always wanted to.

Link looked white, and swayed slightly on the spot. He reached out a hand as if to balance himself against something.

"Sheik…" he whispered uncertainly.

I wanted to smile, but I couldn't.

"No."

"Zelda…"

Even after revealing my identity, I wasn't happy. The omnipresent knot of worry, fear, doubt and guilt remained in my stomach; Ganondorf still sat on the throne that belonged to my father… to me…

And now I had the freedom and tools to fight him. Now I would make him pay.

"Link, I'm so sorry for all of this," I said, a pleading note in my voice. I couldn't explain why I was still shaking, or why I was still terrified. But I wanted him to understand. "It was the only way. When Ganondorf attacked, I thought our best chance would be to give you the Ocarina of Time. I never could have imagined what would happen. I could never have known that you would be sealed away… And…and when Ganon took over, I had no choice but to hide from him. For seven years I've lived my life as Sheik, passing myself off as a son of the shadow people, every minute of every day. I had to lie to you, the way I lied to everyone. But I have always been Princess Zelda…"

My voice dropped off weakly, because Link was shaking his head.

"You're not," he said simply.

"What? No, I—"

"You're…Queen Zelda."

The smile that spread like morning sunlight across his face was one of complete trust and respect, one of a royal knight looking at his queen, but also one of a child looking at his long lost friend. I felt my heart swell with a new confidence that steadied my tremulous nerves; Link had faith in Queen Zelda, just as Sheik always had. And, though I couldn't have said why, his faith was more empowering than any endorsement anyone had given me yet. Together, he and I and all the Sages could do this, and this realization was so great that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I just smiled back.

How was it that with one gesture, he could erase seven years of dread, rage, grief, terror and anxiety?

"With the power of the Sages, Ganon's reign will end," I explained, my voice now completely calm. "If you help me to render him powerless in this world, we, the Sages, can banish Ganondorf into the gap between this and the next, and from this side, I can use my powers to seal him away. There is only one other weapon that you need…"

Feeling free now that I could use Hylian magic, I conjured before me the mystical Light Arrows, which had the power like that of the Master Sword to defeat evil. They appeared in a flash, hovering between us, then drifted into Link's outstretched hands. He carefully took their magic and slid it into the quiver on his back.

"Those arrows, along with the Blade of Evil's Bane, are the only weapons that Ganon cannot fight against," I explained. "You are the only one who can wield them both, to help me with my task. That is what we must do. The strength of the Triforce of Courage, the Triforce of Wisdom, and all the Sages will be behind us."

"You're coming with me? To the battle?"

"Of course. This battle is as much mine as it is yours, and so we fight together."

"As friends."

I nodded slightly, with a trembling smile. "Always as friends."

Link was still looking at me closely, taking in the sight of me for the first time in far too long. He reached out and stepped towards me, and began to say, "Zelda…I—"

But suddenly the world was shaking, and heart-rending laughter was resounding through the Temple.

"What—?" Link began sharply, bracing himself to fight.

"No…it can't be…" I gasped, my heart seized with furious grief.

No, no, not now, please, goddesses, why, not now—

From nowhere, a rose crystal appeared with an echoing crack, trapping me inside it. I cried out, and heard Link do the same, but there was nothing either of us could do.

Ganondorf was speaking.

"Foolish princess!" he laughed, though he was also growling with rage. "Seven long years I have waited! I was patient… I knew that if I let this stupid kid wander around, you would reveal yourself to him. And then…I knew I would have you. And look at this—I do." He paused to laugh aggressively, daring me or Link to challenge him. "Decent people like yourselves are so easy to predict. It was only a matter of time…"

A rush of power surged through me, but it was not my own. I was paralysed; the scene around me was confusing and unclear. Link had run forward and was beating the crystal with his fists, and though it trembled under the blows of the power of silver, it didn't give. I could see him yelling, but couldn't hear his words. Ganondorf's voice was swirling, bellowing about the Triforce. Link was staring wildly around, sword drawn, snarling with his teeth bared like a vicious animal, looking for anything to fight.

Then my head snapped back and my body went rigid as another blast of energy struck me. I was soaring up out of reach of Link, who watched in helpless desperation and rage, up towards the roof of the Temple. Ganondorf's laughter echoed twistedly all around, and I felt myself disappear.

Instantly, I reappeared; the world was still swimming vaguely on the other side of my rose-coloured prison, but I was gradually gaining clarity in my mind. After a few moments, I managed to register the scene around me.

A massive, high-ceilinged, square room with huge, golden windows lit by some source so unearthly and haunting that the very brightness of it seemed evil. I hung near the ceiling against the back wall of the room, facing a great door of elegant, dark wood from which stretched a blood red carpet. Following this across the room, I saw below me a grand pipe organ. I recognized this room…

More than seven years ago, lords and ladies and knights and dames of Hyrule had gathered here for balls hosted by their noble sovereigns, my father and mother, the king and queen. Two prestigious thrones had stood where did this grotesque musical instrument now, and there had been ensconced my parents. I had stood at my mother's side. Impa stood off in the shadows, her eyes on me at all times. Couples would dance together gracefully to the strains of music written by the greatest composers in the land, and I would watch them, lost in fantasies of romantic adventures.

Once, when I was very young, maybe six years old, my father had left my mother's side during one such ball and taken me in his arms. He waltzed me all around the room, spinning me to make me laugh. My mother had then joined us, and they had danced with me held between them. I would never forget that music, the sound of my parents' voices, the feel of their warmth through their fine clothes…

Just as I would never forget the last time I had seen this place—when it had been a killing field where Gerudo warriors mercilessly cut down my father's soldiers.

This was the procession hall…

"Don't cry, little princess."

The voice returned me to the present.

Ganondorf.

He was slipping through the door into the room. I don't know how he spotted my tears at that distance—maybe he simply has assumed that I would be crying weakly in fear for myself. At his words, I stopped. Hatred seared my blood.

Watching me, Ganondorf strode grandly across the room. My room.

"I won't hurt you," he said casually. "I need you, after all. As long as you are useful to me, you are safe."

He sat down at the pipe organ and idly beat out a few, low notes. They throbbed through the air.

I wanted to scream at him. To tell him exactly how and why I wanted him to die.

"Likely your boyfriend won't be here for several hours," Ganondorf was now saying, still in that conversational tone, still absent-mindedly repeating that bass rhythm that vibrated against my soul. "There are a few complications downstairs…but I do hope he doesn't give up."

Pausing in his playing, Ganondorf cut through the fading last notes of his music with his own laughter.

"Give up! Oh, how can I even think it? He'll do no such thing. Not as long as he knows I have you…"

Smiling demonically, he replaced his fingers on the keys and continued with his war song.

"I don't understand this power you have over him," he said softly, though I could still hear him distinctly. "He does anything you tell him to. He always has. Maybe he just has no will of his own. Or maybe he's wrapped up in some idealized delusions about destiny and heroism and other such nonsense."

The only sound was the low, ominous hymn. The same few bars, over and over again.

"It wasn't very nice of you to lie to him for so long," he told me abruptly. "Why did you do it, I wonder? Maybe you thought he wouldn't trust you after all your childhood mistakes, or maybe you thought it would be an amusing trick to play? Or… maybe you were hiding? You were scared of me? Yes. Well, I feel I should tell you that in future you'll want to choose your disguises more carefully… Not that there will be a future, of course. The point is, I saw no point in capturing Sheik. Link can live without Sheik. As long as he didn't know, there was no sense in taking you."

He knew. He had really known all along. Those times I had thought I was miraculously slipping through his detection, he had always known.

"Yes… I needed Zelda. Link can't live without Zelda."

You're heartless, you're evil, you're going to die… Link's going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, we're going to take our world back, we're going to take our lives back… You deserve to suffer, we're going to make you suffer…

I don't know how long I dwelled on these thoughts. They echoed through my mind as Ganondorf's pounding song echoed all around me. Both reached such a pitch, swelling inside me, that I thought the intensity would make me burst.

Something was happening. I felt it before I heard or saw it; my right hand began to burn in that oddly painless way. I saw Ganondorf glance down at his own right hand and hiss with pleasure.

Then I heard something on the other side of the door, something that sounded like a key sliding in a lock and heavy chains clanking away. Ganondorf played even more heavily on the keys, the tune unchanging.

The door opened.

As soon as Link stepped into the room, I could feel the strength of the Triforce within me, even more pronounced than usual. The three pieces were so close… they longed to be reunited…

"So you have come," Ganondorf said in a low voice. He hadn't turned around, and he was still beating out that same tune. "You have come."

"Yes," Link answered. I had never heard such rage suppressed in his voice. Like me, he must have been thinking of everything Ganondorf had cost him and, and every way Ganondorf was still hurting him.

"The pieces of the Triforce are all here together," Ganondorf continued indifferently. "They are so close, they can sense each other. I am sure you feel it."

Link didn't answer. There was a coldness that was absolutely terrifying written across his face.

"I need all three pieces," Ganondorf was saying now. "If I am to rule Hyrule once and for all, I must do it with the power of the gods. And you…these toys are too much for children like you."

He stopped playing. He rose and faced Link, sweeping his cape around him and holding up his right hand, where the Triforce mark burned with unnatural light. His voice thundered around the room as he cried out:

"GIVE THEM TO ME!"

In the ringing silence that followed, I felt my right hand shaking forcefully against my will as the magic of the goddesses struggled to burst from my. The Triforce image glowed so brightly on Link's left hand that it I could see it vividly through his golden gauntlets. With the soft sound of metal sliding against metal, he drew the Master Sword from its sheath. He spoke with less volume than Ganondorf, but more sheer force.

"You will not win, and you will never rule—Not while the goddesses reign, and I have breath and life to fight you!"

His voice echoed imperiously; this was his fight, and he wouldn't let death itself stop him. Ganondorf clenched his fists.

"So be it…" he growled. "In that case, I will rule very soon. Let us settle this, once and for all, man to man, or, more accurately…man to kid."

With a great sweep of his arm, he cleared everything from the room—including me.

I shouted in protest, though I knew it would do no good. I didn't want to leave Link's side. This battle was as much mine as it was his; I had told him that, and it was true, and I didn't want to desert it. But there was nothing I could do.

I soared up through the ceiling to hover over the turrets and towers of the dark, ominous castle that floated over a pit of lava far more intimidating than Death Mountain Crater. Only one remotely bright thing interrupted the gloom of the blackened landscape, which only the dull glow of the swirling lava illuminated, and it was a shimmering, translucent bridge that stretched from the castle's door to the land. It glittered with magic, and I knew from its rainbow colouring that the Sages had created it for Link.

Not knowing what was taking place was killing me. I was desperate to find out what was happening, how well Link was fighting, what Ganondorf was doing to him. Whatever he said about Link being a mere child, the King of Evil would not hold anything back in battling the Hero of Time.

My ears were straining to make out any noise, but I could hear nothing over the deep roar of the lava below, as though Hyrule herself was growling in displeasure at the war that desolated her. Only occasionally did I see flashes of light crackling in the large windows, and they only increased my frustration. My home was at stake, my entire world, my entire life and identity—This was my battle. And I was shut out of it. I wanted to scream, but I still couldn't move.

Who had attacked? Who had been hit? What was going on?

Having nothing else to do, and having to do something to stop from driving myself mad with fear and worry, I prayed.

Please, Nayru, save him. I, Your daughter, beg You. Please, Farore, save him. He is Your son, and he needs You. Please, Din, save him…

My thoughts faltered. How could I pray to the goddess of power? It was Ganondorf who had Her essence…but he had taken it by force. So did that really mean She supported him?

No. Of course not. It couldn't be. The Master Sword had been forged to defeat this man. Din could not possibly desire his victory.

Please, Din… Take Your power back from the one who has stolen it.

Even as I thought this, I heard something. The sound was so deep that it began as a feeling, resonating through the air like Ganondorf's evil song.

Was I imagining it?

It grew louder… An earth-deep rumbling…

The castle roof… It was caving in on itself…

I was sinking down to the castle… I felt myself regain control over my body as the paralysis slipped away… The rose crystal was melting away…

I landed softly amid the debris of the procession hall that was crumbling around two figures who stood like statues of gods at the centre of the destruction. I watched, unable to breathe.

Link stood, panting with exhaustion so complete that he couldn't summon the energy to wipe the sweat from his brow; limp, beaten, wounded and filthy, but standing. Living.

Ganondorf's arms were extended upwards, his head flung back, his body easily as detrimentally battered as Link's, his breath coming in ragged gasps; but he, too, was standing.

For a moment, a horrifying moment, I couldn't tell who had won. Then Ganondorf dropped to his knees.

"No…" he choked, "I… the King of Evil…beaten by this…kid? … It… can't…"

He clutched at his throat as his words failed him, and, with a last groan of pain, he fell amid the wreckage to lay prostrate at Link's feet.

Defeated…

So long had I waited for this day. Now that it had come, I could think of no adequate expression of everything that I felt.

"Finally…" I whispered, feeling the tears rise up within me, "he's…finally…"

Link said nothing. From some unknown place, Navi fluttered down to his side. I hadn't noticed her absence, but he obviously had. He looked up at her, but, finding himself incapable of reacting to her reappearance other than to give the shakiest shadow of a smile, he cast his gaze back down upon the form of Ganondorf.

"He could never have harnessed the power of the goddesses," I whispered, believing it for the first time. "His soul was devoid of the qualities the goddesses seek in their followers, and now…"

"Wait…" Link said softly, his eyes widening slightly. "No…"

At first, I didn't know what he meant. Then I felt it; the ground was beginning again to rumble. My eyes met Link's, and my soul lurched in dread. This could not be happening.

"With his last strength, Ganondorf is trying to destroy us!" I gasped. "To bury us with the castle!"

"What do we do?"

"Run! Follow me! I know the way out!"

"Let's go!"

We ran, but we couldn't go quickly. Stones and chunks of the castle itself fell in a constant fiery rain around us, slipping and sometimes crumbling away beneath our feet. The route was difficult to find, so mutilated was the castle that had once been my home. My clothes, designed for the daily life of a princess, were not suited for running away from a flaming ruin, especially not when I was used to Sheikah gear. Periodically we came across doors that were barred shut by magic, and I had to use my powers to open them; Link followed, urging me on impatiently, at times not dodging quickly enough when something fell towards or even onto him, but not seeming to care about his injuries.

"I'm fine! Just go!" he insisted through gritted teeth whenever I was about to ask if he needed help.

We were almost to the door, passing through a circular room littered with remnants of the once-glorious building, when a ring of fire sprang from the floor itself and encircled me.

"No!" I shrieked in frustration.

Through the licking flames, I saw bones and weapons that had been lying on the floor soar together to form a deadly Stalfos. Link swore loudly as he drew his own sword and shield.

"Get—the—hell—out—of—the—way!" he roared, attacking on each word with such brute force and aggression that he was literally hacking the skeleton to pieces. We were all the while losing precious seconds…

The Stalfos crumpled again; Link whirled around with a cry of fury and delivered such a blow to a second Stalfos, which I hadn't noticed, that he cleaved its skull in two. Its decapitated body staggered, Link swung a precisely aimed attack to halve it at the waist, and it fell definitively; so, too, did the ring of fire surrounding me.

"Come on!"

Link was already at the next magically sealed door, shouting for me to hurry, completely unfazed by what had happened.

"Thank you," I gasped, and we ran on.

In the last room, the short entrance hall, I dodged the paralyzing stare of a single Redead, but heard its high, twisted scream a second later. Turning on the spot, a saw that it had frozen Link in mid-stride; he couldn't move, but his face showed the sheer effort he was exerting in resisting.

"Please," I murmured to whoever, mortal or otherwise, was listening, "please, we're almost there…"

He broke free, and was running again. I grabbed up my skirts and sprinted ahead of him, across the insubstantial bridge; there was no time to think about the fact that it didn't look as if it could support my weight. Link's own heavy breathing behind me told me he had escaped, too, just before all sound disappeared in the rising volume of the tremulous, rolling thunder that felt as though it would shake my soul loose from my body.

Link's arm flung across my shoulders as he dove and pushed me to the ground with him. We landed hard on the rocky ground, and I clenched my eyes shut and listened to the earthquake of the falling castle…

Then…

Silence.

Goddesses help me…

I didn't want to get up. Now that I had stopped moving, my body began to ache as though every inch of it had been beating. Next to me, I could feel Link pulling himself up to sit already. I heard him rummaging through his supplies and, peering up, watched him drinking from a bottle filled with blue liquid. He briefly gave off a faint blue glow, and when it subsided, he was completely healthy again.

"Here," he said, offering me what was left in the bottle.

"No…thank you," I croaked, managing just barely to shake my head. I thought I would be sick if I tried to stomach anything. "It's over… It's finally over."

I closed my eyes and just lay there, unaware of anything except the pounding pain in every part of my body.

Then I heard Link scrambling to his feet, and his voice, oddly hollow, saying, "Get up, Zelda."

Oh, please just let me rest…

I didn't protest aloud, but rolled over and received an electrifying shock that made me jump to my feet.

From the rubble, the utterly destroyed wreckage of the castle, a massive, hulking monster arose. Its eyes glowed evilly, its demonic head was crowned with grotesquely twisted horns, its dark body was carved of rock-like muscle, its long and heavy tail swung behind it in deadly arcs, and it wielded two gigantic tridents; it was sheer power incarnate. It let out a bestial roar, but I knew…

"Ganon," I breathed.

Link stepped forward, sword drawn, and I could see in his face that he no longer desired revenge—he simply wanted all of this to be over, as much as I did. He was striding into this battle because the sooner it began, the sooner he could end it.

Ganon swung his huge body around, and its powerful tail struck Link an unforgiving blow. I let out a cry, clasping my hands over my mouth, as Link flew through the air to land hard on the unforgiving rubble. The Master Sword soared from his grip, whipping through the air and gleaming red against the dying sun, to land point down in the ground at my feet, like the flag of a nation victorious in war.

The Hero of Time recovered quickly from being knocked down; he rolled over swiftly and began to run towards his weapon, but in an instant, flames exploded from the ground, reaching to the sky and mirroring its own fire. They encircled a barren ring, within which Ganon and his lethal tridents could face an unarmed Link, who had skidded to a stop just before running straight into the deadly wall, wide-eyed with shock, and whipped back around to see the monster with which he was now isolated.

Ganon let out a roar of laughter. He would toy with his prey before destroying it utterly. He would make Link suffer before crushing the life out of him.

I screamed in outrage at Ganon's sadistic cowardice, but the protest soon died on my lips; Link was not unarmed. From somewhere within his seemingly endless supply of equipment, he had drawn a blade so long and heavy that he had to use both hands to hold it. Navi, this time, hadn't deserted the battle, and was directing Link's blows at Ganon's thick, thrashing tail.

Though I could scarcely make out the scene through the flames that lashed before me, I heard Ganon roaring with pain once, then again, then again. I took heart in that fact that I heard no cries from Link, until it occurred to me that I wouldn't have been able to hear him.

Torturous moments later, I heard Ganon give a particularly vicious cry, and the flame wall flickered down. Ganon lay struggling to breathe, but I didn't for a moment think this was over. Link was looking around wildly, disoriented.

"Link!" I cried. "The Master Sword is over here! Hurry!"

He didn't need to be told to hurry; his eyes locked onto me, he ran for the Sword and wrenched it from the ground, panting with exhausting, yet finding the energy to sprint back into the battle just as Ganon reared up again.

In the confusion, I could see that Ganon was devoting more effort to dodging Link's attempts to strike his tail. But Link wasn't beaten; he drew his bow and swiftly shot the weapon I had given him. The Light Arrow soared in a beam of energy, bursting with a ringing sound when it struck Ganon in the face. He roared, but feebly, and fell still. Link took advantage of this momentary pause to draw the legendary blade and attack his enemy's tail fiercely, but he managed only one or two blows before the monster found his feet again. It would take time for Link to conquer him once and for all.

My heart was in my throat, pounding with painful intensity.

He can do it, he can… The goddesses would never have let him come so far only for it all to end here… He can't die…

Time and again, I saw a Light Arrow strike Ganon's face, saw him fall, saw Link nimbly jump over his enemy's cumbersome body to target that tail, slashing at it with violent blows.

When would Ganon finally fall?

And it hit me; Link did not have the ability to deliver that last, fatal strike alone. He could go on weakening Ganon eternally, but the King of Evil would never really die until the Master Sword unleashed its power on his head instead of his tail. Ganon, of course, knew it too, for he was carefully keeping his head out of Link's reach even when he was weakest.

Sages! I thought wildly. I sent out a telepathic message.

Sages! Send your powers! Combine with mine! Send your strength to me to bind the evil monster Ganon so Link can end this struggle!

No thoughts answered mine, but I felt the magic of six others course through me immediately as they all obeyed my call to action. I concentrated the energies of all Seven Sages, and reached out my hands.

Magic exploded so forcefully from me that I went rigid, shaking from head to toe. Opalescent light radiated from my entire body, engulfing Ganon.

"Link!" I cried again, summoning my voice from the tempest of magic that consumed me. "I'm holding Ganon with all the magical strength of the Sages! Deliver the last blow!"

Link stopped in the middle of an attack on the tail. He tightened his grip on the Sword and stumbled towards Ganon's head, slumping with exhaustion, not giving up. I saw in his eyes a renewed desire to end the battle conclusively. Ganon had put him through hell yet again; now he would end it.

It was certainly more than one final blow that the Hero of Time delivered to the King of Evil's twisted new incarnation. Link raised the Master Sword high overhead, then brought it down away with the force of an avalanche. He slammed it repeatedly into Ganon's mutated face, sending blood flying, staining his own clothes without caring; at long last, he drew the Sword straight back before thrusting it straight forward, right between Ganon's bright, demonic eyes. He twisted it before ripping it out again.

Everything was brightness. I continued to focus all the energy of the Sages onto Ganon, onto crushing him into oblivion—

"CURSE YOU, SAGES!"

Light flashing around me—around Link—

"DAMN YOU, ZELDA!"

A confusing barrage against the senses—

"DAMN YOU…LINK!"

I felt Ganon slip away, through the barrier separating this world from the next, and I knew that as long as Seven Sages had power, Hyrule was safe…