Chapter Twenty Six
The Showdown Begins

Saria crawled through a small tunnel, designed for Keese patrol-bats. The cramped tunnel was the only way into the throne room, for the heavy doors that were normally used was guarded by over a hundred stalfos and moblins. Too much for the shiekah needless to say. Now, Saria was squeezing her way through the narrow tunnel of "Plan B."

Flap-flap-flap

Oh no…

Saria raised her arms in defense as the bats suddenly flew into her. Cries of 'skrii-skit-skii-skrii!' filled the tunnel. "Aah!" One of the bats landed of her arm and proceeded to bite a chunk out. With a surge of anger, she smashed the bat into the wall. The other Keese attacked relentlessly, ending up sandwiched between the wall and her arm. After the whole patrol was neutralized, Saria pushed the bat corpses in front of her, sweeping them into a side tunnel when she came to one. Farther ahead, she could hear voices. Crawling as fast as she could, she finally came to a grate overlooking the throne room.

"My liege." Spoke a rather handsome soldier who was kneeling in front of a very distinguished man sitting in a throne. Long grey hair flowed from the man's scalp, under a crown. Saria's stomach clenched. The crown. It was the same crown that she had picked up in the forest, nearly turning her into a stal-child. The distinguished man was without a doubt, the Stal-King. Looking over at the soldier, she noticed his ears. They were swept forward like horns; the Stal-King had similar ears. The kneeling stalfos was wearing a silver breastplate.

"Rise Stalvokor, General of the Stalfos." The King spoke, motioning the soldier to stand. Saria watched the debacle, confused. What happened to the last one? Little matter. Saria tried to open the grate and frowned, it was stuck. She pushed harder, hoping it would give. With a crack, the grate snapped and despite Saria's attempt to grab it, fell to the ground.

CRASH!

The sound of the grate hitting the stone floor after a thirty foot drop echoed round the chamber. White-faced, Saria quickly retreated into the tunnel out of sight. The stalfos had undoubtedly heard it and were prowling for the source of the sound.

"Sire!" A gruff voice rose into the tunnel. Saria tried to control her breathing but instead was experiencing a fit of hyperventilation. "A grate. Looks like it fell from that tunnel up there." The Kokiri girl could imagine the King staring up at the tunnel, piecing two and two together. She heard a sniffing sound. "Kokiri!" The forest sage nearly had a heart attack right there. Frantically, she crawled backward, cold sweat beading on her ashen face.

"Search the area! That sage must be found!" Saria's breathing slowed as the footsteps became more distant. Evidentially they thought she had already come out of the tunnel. Cautiously, she crept forward. Once she reached the hole, there was no trace of the stalfos. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked down at the ground, causing her to catch her breath again. Time to use the gift from the Deku Tree Sprout. She thought, staring down the ominous thirty feet. She found the object and pushed herself out of the hole.

Gasping slightly to the disorientating sense of free fall, she quickly pulled out the object and held on tight as it billowed out, taking in the air. The large Deku Leaf slowed her descent as she floated silently down into the heart of the Stalfos Tower. Once she touched the ground, she put the Deku Leaf away and pulled out another object.

Breathing unevenly with apprehension, Saria slapped the wooden mask she had gotten from Link to her face. She let out a gasp as the mask suddenly tightened around her head. The mask grew tighter and tighter until she was sure that it would crush her skull. She cried out in pain as the mask suddenly sent a shock through her spine and nerves, causing her to black out for a second. When Saria opened her eyes, she stared at her reflection in the smooth black surface of the floor. Glowing yellow eyes and a tunnel-like mouth stared back. The transformation was complete, she was a Deku Shrub.

"What are you doing in here?" A gruff voice behind her spoke up. With a trilling shriek she spun around to see the new General, Stalvokor, glaring at her suspiciously.

"Cleaning." She quickly replied in a shrill voice. To prove her story, she began scrubbing the floor with her hands. Fortunately, the new General was so thick that he didn't think much about her lack of cleaning tools. With a huff, the stalfos turned around and began sniffing the air, searching for the elusive Kokiri. After the fleshed skeleton walked off, Saria waddled over to a postern gate. Beyond the postern, she could see the shadows of her 'invisibilized' friends, prepared to strike. Saria looked around for the general, not seeing him; she activated the posterns one-way controls, opening the thick grate. By the time the stalfos had reacted to the clanking noise of the postern, the rebels were already inside the throne room.

"Ha ha ha ha ha." The Stal-King chuckled as the rebels decloaked themselves, prepared for battle. "I must applaud your exploits in getting in here, but ultimately, they're foolish. You cannot hope to beat me." Zelda's eyes searched the room, looking for the crystal. Nothing.

"You will pay for what you have done to my kingdom." Harkanian boomed, stepping forward with a glare that would fry lesser men's courage. The Stal-King merely snorted and sat back in his throne.

"Stalvokor, here's your chance to prove yourself."

"Yes my lord." A stalfos wearing a silver breastplate drew a blood red sword, the mean stupid look of a brute upon his face. Link calmly drew his own sword. Inwardly wishing for the trusty Master Sword, he swung his sword in a taunt, beckoning the brute to attack first. The stalfos general complied without hesitation. "Ygrah!" He cried in a guttural battle cry as he charged. Link deflected his first blow easily but was mildly surprised at how fast the second blow came. Blocking blow after blow, Link soon found himself on the defensive. The General may have been stupid, but he was fast.

As they fought, Zelda continued her search for the crystal. After five long minutes of searching, she watched horrified at her fiancé who was beginning to tire. Why aren't the soldiers helping? She wondered as she looked over at the Hylian warriors. They appeared to be stiff, shaking slightly as if they were trying to break out of the grasp of some unseen force. The sages, her father, and Ganondorf were trying to cast spells but their magic was nullified by some sort of field. Saria had managed to take the Deku mask off but her attacks didn't do any better. Zelda's eye caught a glimmer off to the left. Over on a pedestal was a black sphere, small shards poking out of cracked points on the smooth surface. She didn't think much on the object for there, lying next to it, was the shimmering crystal that had stolen Wisdom from her as she desperately tried to use it to ward off the King's tortures. Now the balance will be tipped in our favor… Zelda slowly started edging to the left, hoping the Stal-King would be distracted by the fight long enough for her to reach the pedestal.

Sweat poured down Link's face as he blocked a relentless blow after blow. Didn't this guy ever get tired? Straining against the stalfos's strength as their swords locked, he caught sight of Zelda edging slowly toward a pedestal. He pushed the stalfos back with renewed energy.

"Hrothgrath!" Stalvokor growled as he lunged. Bad move. Link thought with a grin as he side-stepped the attack and brought his sword onto the stalfos's outstretched arm. The blade bit into the brute's vambrace, denting it into his flesh. With a roar of pain, Stalvokor staggered back. A feral growl escaped his lips as he tore the damaged armguard off. Here we go again…

Link blocked his enraged blows easily, though he was beginning to get worried that the fight would last too much longer. When Zelda gets the crystal, I'll finish it. Link parried the angry blows, delivering another painful swipe at the brute whenever he started calming down. Soon, the general was in frenzy, madly swinging his sword in an uncoordinated manner. Come on Zelda… It was easy enough to continue dodging the terrible swordsmanship but the Stal-King would no doubt begin to suspect why he was stalling.

Zelda edged closer and closer to the pedestal, just ten feet away. Was she far enough out of the Stal-King's sight? Deciding to chance it, she broke into a run for the pedestal, her swift feet making no noise. Five feet, three feet, one foot, her fingers closed around the crystal, sincerely hoping it wasn't still "power-protected." Feeling the cool crystal surface rather than the searing pain of the shield, her worries evaporated. With a triumphant smile, she waved the crystal at Link.

The Hylian hero saw the signal and ducked under Stalvokor's clumsy swing. With the speed of an arrow, he lunged forward, his blade sinking into the stalfos's side, between the pieces of armor. Stalvokor's brutish face twisted in pain and confusion. With a choking sound, the ex-skeleton toppled to the ground unmoving. Link wiped the blue blood off his sword on the fallen's battle tunic. With a glare, he turned toward the Stal-King whom did not look too concerned with the death of his general.

"Really Link… I was expecting more from you. But of course, you were stalling for your girlfriend to grab my crystal." He spoke dryly. Link could see Zelda go white as she heard this. With a snap of the Stal-King's fingers, an explosion sent Zelda flying, the crystal landing some twenty feet away from her. In a rage, Link charged at the Stal-King but suddenly found himself struggling in midair. "Don't be an idiot and make the same stupid mistake the General did." The King waved his hand carelessly and Link was flung into a wall so hard it broke three of his ribs. "Now… You shall all feel the power of the Triforce!"