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Chapter Twenty Eight
The Triforce Phantom
Link and Zelda stared at the enormous dragon in horror. Its scales were darker than a starless sky. Its glaring red eyes darted from one sage to another. Its head, armed with six horns, thrashed about madly. With a terrifying roar, the dark creature beat its immense wings, sending a powerful wind that nearly bowled the sages over. The black skeleton on its back cackled at them somewhat maniacally. Link could see that it was wearing a rather charred gold breastplate. Stalakor…
"Hahahaha! Did you foolish Hylians think it was over? Hahahaha!" Link furrowed his brows. The skeleton sounded insane. The Hylian hero raised his shield as Stalakor swooped down, the dragon's claws swiping at him. One of the talons smashed into the shield, knocking him flat. As he shakily got to his feet, he stared at his shield dumbstruck. There was a deep dent as if a small comet had hit it. The dragon roared in frustration, flames darting out of its mouth. Its head shot forward, attempting to nab Link. A second before he would have been bitten, Zelda slammed into Link, pushing him out of the way. The dragon growled and turned toward the sages.
FWOOSH!
The flames blasted against the shield of water that Ruto summoned in the nick of time. Eyes flaming with anger, the dragon blasted its fiery breaths at the sages, only to have them doused by the steaming water.
"Ganondorf!" Link called out. Seconds later, the Gerudo was at his side. "Never thought I'd ever say this, but we need your help." Ganondorf nodded in understanding. As one, Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf raised their fists, calling on their Triforce parts. The power combined into one and shot at the deranged skeleton. To their utmost shock, Stalakor blocked the attack. The sages threw in their power, but the skeleton deflected it as if it was a pesky fairy. Laughing madly, Stalakor raised his hand as the symbol of the Triforce appeared on its back.
"How…?" Zelda whispered softly in disbelief. Link merely looked from his hand to the skeleton, trying to figure out why there were two Triforces. Ganondorf looked dumbfounded as well; the sages clueless.
"Hahahaha! The Stal-King tried to destroy me, but he used too much power and imprinted the power of the Triforce upon me!" He raised his fist in triumph, the phantom of the Triforce glowing brightly. He lowered the hand and set it against the dragon's scales, causing the creature to shudder. "Shruikah! Attack!" The dragon reared its ugly head and ice instead of fire shot out. Darunia quickly retaliated by erecting a shield of fire. The black creature swooped around this time spat a beam of dark energy. Prepared, Rauru countered with a light beam.
As the dragon fired back with sunlight so bright that it would burn one's eyes out, followed up by a shadow blast from Impa, Stalakor flipped off the dragon and landed feet first in front of the slightly startled hero. Zelda slipped her hand in Link's, whispering a vow to never leave his side. Stalakor pulled his sword out of its sheath and pulled it apart, revealing two identical swords. "Let us finish what we started…" He snarled before attacking with a lunge.
Link side-stepped the strike, but before he could bring his sword down on the stalfos's outstretched arm, the other blade blocked it with a metallic clash. He tried to counterattack but the second sword forced him on the defensive. The stalfos general was coordinated, quick, balanced, and at the same time insane. Somehow, as Link found out, those traits combined well. Stalakor smashed his sword into what was left of Link's shield, sending him flying.
"Aarrrgghh!" Stalakor roared in pain as Zelda shot him in the back with a light arrow. With a feral hiss, he leapt at the princess and bashed her across the face with a metal gauntlet. He turned to find an enraged Link charging at him with his sword.
CLANG!
Stalakor blocked the angry blow with ease and countered with a swipe at his shield arm, cutting the frayed bonds. The bent shield clattered to the ground as the two mighty warriors continued their epic duel. Blow after blow, Link staggered back in desperate defense. He momentarily saw the dragon shoot biting sand at the sages as Saria grew an oak tree as a shield.
CLANG!
Link stumbled as the stalfos's blade slammed down on his tired sword. Zelda, who was still dizzy from the stalfos's backhand, stared horrified at her fiancé's predicament. She grabbed her bow off the ground and shot the skeleton again. The distraction allowed Link to regain his footing and strike at his opponent's head. Stalakor howled in pain and rage, striking at Link with a predictable counterattack. Link easily blocked the blow and knocked the sword out of his hand and off the tower. Snarling, Stalakor back flipped away, gaining time to recompose himself. Holding the remaining sword out from in front of him, he cackled as a blade suddenly slid out of the other end of the hilt.
"Crap…" Link muttered to himself as Stalakor began swinging the double bladed staff-sword in martial-art frenzy. Link could barely block the fierce blows of the deadly weapon, forcing him back, step by step. Zelda charged up a power ball and launched it at the skeleton's back. The stalfos flipped over the projectile causing it to hit Link, knocking him down. The princess shrieked in horror of what she had just done. Before she could get her defenses back up, Stalakor blasted her with the Phantom Triforce, knocking her off the tower.
"ZELDA! NOOO!" She heard Link cry as she felt herself fall. Calling on the Triforce of Wisdom, she closed her eyes and began to spin through the air. With a flash of green light, Farore's Wind dropped her back onto the top of tower, unknown to the black skeleton.
"ǼŘÖŇÏŒŜ!" She yelled before sending a beam of blue energy into the back of the skeleton. Stalakor screamed in rage and pain as the electrical torrent electrocuted his bones, cracking them. Insanity overcoming everything else, Stalakor swiveled around and threw the staff sword at Zelda, who nimbly dodged. Furiously, the skeleton tackled the princess, his burned claws wrapped around her slender throat. His teeth elongated, his sharp fangs lengthening three inches, and he laughed as Zelda shrieked in fear. Tightening his grip, he cackled mercilessly as the princess's face started turning blue.
Link pounced on the skeleton and swung his sword straight and true at the stalfos's neck. The head came off and the skeleton body let go of Zelda's neck as it fumbled around with its skull. Gaining a firm grip on its cranium, the stalfos began swinging at Link madly, using its own head as a bludgeon. The Hylian got walloped once after staring at the odd sight, and Zelda, coughing, blasted the skeleton with some more energy. As Stalakor's body turned to attack the princess again, Link slashed at his vulnerable spine.
"SCREEEEYAAAAHHHH!" A blood-curdling cry filled the air as the deranged skeleton fell to pieces. At the same moment, there was a shocking flash as the phantom Triforce broke apart, dispersing its energy in the form of several shockwaves, knocking them off the tower as the structure began to collapse. Link caught Zelda and embraced her in the free-fall to inevitable doom. A roar above them as well as a passing shadow filled Link's mind as he slowly began to black out. His last memory was the dragon, now free from its spell and covered in brilliant blue scales, catching him and Zelda…
Epilogue coming soon...