Chapter 17: Battle for the Temple
Link
After we left the tunnel that we used to find The Four Sword, we all fast-traveled to The Shrine of Resurrection with the now white-bladed Master Sword.
"I find it poetic that our journey would come to an end in the very temple where we first were told to find the 3 additional swords to begin with," Mipha said.
"You'll find that some adventures end that way, ending where all it began, with the personal changes that were made on the adventure," I said.
"As much as I enjoy letting you guys wax philosophical, let's just seal the Triforce away using those swords so we can go home already," Revali said.
Urbosa laughed. "You just want to go home and brag to everyone, especially after defeating Vaati."
Revali threw his wings in the air with a smile that said, "Ya got me".
We all laughed at this antic as we made our way to the wall where the exit to the shrine could be found at the top.
As more than one couldn't climb the wall at a time, I went first. As I climbed the wall, I couldn't help but think about the day of my awakening. Even though it had been so long ago, I still remembered that warm and awestruck feeling I had when I left the shrine saw Hyrule as if it had been the first time. It was a sight that I was eager to see again.
Huh?
To my surprise when I got to the top, I was greeted not by the view of Hyrule that I was expecting, but by three strangely golden-colored bokoblins who charged right at me when they saw me.
My sword and shield were already out by the time that they had closed the gap. I parried one of their clubs before striking all three of them with one swing of The Master Sword.
Wait, all three of them?
Never had I hit so many in a single blow. I risked a brief look at my sword in shock,
How powerful had it, and …I become?
Some of the bokoblins got back up and resumed their attack as I barely blocked their blow with my sword.
"Link!? What's going on?!" It was Zelda. She must have heard the sounds of the fight.
"We've got bokoblins, be ready to fight when you get up here."
"What? Bokoblins!?"
A smaller version of Revali's gale later and my brother and his Zora companion were beside me. He released three arrows into the gold bokoblins, headshotting each one and finishing them off. I looked to the left to see at least eight more gold bokoblins on their way here.
"We'll hold them off! Get the others!" Revali shouted.
With a nod, I ran back into the shrine.
Revali
Each time I shot down a Bokoblin, it seemed like ten more took its place. Mipha was helping any way she could as she skillfully blocked and stabbed any bokoblin that got too close. Even with the few archers that we took out, I knew we wouldn't be able to refill my quiver anytime soon. I continued to fight, hoping that I wouldn't try to draw my bow only to draw empty air.
We were slowly joined by the others in the fight as Link helped out Zelda, then Urbosa, and…
Where was Daruk?
In answer to my question, he came flying out of the shrine like a cannonball, knocking over the bokoblins in front of us like snowling pins. Link ran to my side.
"I'm not even going to ask," I said.
"I used stasis and a sledgehammer to get him out of there. I'm just glad I was able to aim correctly, talk about a small exit and a low ceiling." Link said before skewering a bokoblin with his sword.
"Right. So, what do you make of this, oh brave-and-fearless hero?"
He growled, "My guess is that Ghirahim beat us here. For all we know, he could be at the temple already. He's smarter than we gave him credit for."
"So what's the plan?"
His eyes narrowed as he said, "We fight."
Link
The battlefield erupted into chaos as both Monsters and Champions clashed on the birthplace of Hyrule, pushing forward the hoards upon hordes of Bokoblins, Lizalfos, Moblins, Lynels, and a few Yiga. Clearly, Ghirahim did not want us to get through. I had lost count of how many servants of Ganon I had slain at this point in this battle alone? 200? 400? 1000? It didn't matter, looking at the Champions with their unique abilities and fighting styles that I had only seen a few times, it was clear that while we were outnumbered, we were far from outmatched.
Try as they might, the monsters were unable to stop us as we laid waste to the battlefield. We Cut, crushed, shot, pushed, and stabbed our way through the crowd of monsters until we finally got to the interior of The Temple of Time.
Everything was silent as we all looked around, weapons drawn.
"Ghirahim! Come out and face us!" I shouted.
Sure enough, he materialized in front of the giant statue of Hylia. We immediately jumped back into our fighting stances.
He applauded mockingly and said, "Well done making it this far. I must admit, I underestimated you again. How foolish of me. It doesn't matter, your enhanced sword won't make any difference, you will still all fall all the same. I suppose I should thank you for bringing me exactly what I want, all three of the pieces of the Triforce in one place, all ripe for the picking."
I slightly lowered my stance I realized that he was right about what we had done. But I tightened my grip and brought myself back into a strong defensive stance. If he thought we were just going to let him take the Triforce, he had another thing coming!
"Still as determined and foolish as ever I see. Very well, if you want to meet your doom, allow me to help you!"
Revali
And I thought the fight before was fierce. Link clashed his blade with Ghirahim's two as we tried to offer what support we could to Link, but it wasn't enough as the hero tried to push his foe back.
"Is that all you've got?" he taunted the Hero.
I took to the air with My Gale as I exchanged my Great Eagle Bow for the light bow and readied a shot.
"Not even close," I said under my breath.
He cried out as the arrow hit him before launching his own projectiles at me. They were surprisingly easy to dodge. When he tried to hit me with them again, I deflected them with my sword. I landed with a smirk as the rest of the Champions and Link continued to attack him. But then, he lost his cool and teleported away with a snap of his fingers.
"Come back and fight you coward!" I shouted.
There was only silence as we shifted this way and that, looking for where he would reappear. Just as I shifted my gaze to Mipha and the others, the Zora's eyes widened as she shouted:
"REVALI, BEHIND YOU!"
I turned around just in time to catch Ghirahim's blades with my own.
Link
On impulse, I tried to run to Revali but found myself and the rest of the others blocked by a barrier that Ghirahim created. All we could do was watch as Revali and Ghirahim circled each other before crossing blades again.
"You think you stand a chance against me?" Ghirahim asked Smugly, "Don't make me laugh."
With that, he pushed Revali back.
"Now, you have something that belongs to my master."
With a cry, I broke the barrier that was separating me from Ghirahim with my sword and charged at him, only to be met with a horde of bokoblins that he summoned with a snap of his fingers. He was trying to slow me down.
By the time I had finally managed to get to slay all the bokoblins, Ghirahim already had Revali in the air telekinetically by his throat. My brother screamed in pain as his Triforce glowed furiously.
"And you're going to give it back."
"NO!"
I leaped at him, knocking them both aside with a charged jump strike. I ran to Revali as he pushed himself to his feet. He was ok! Then I noticed something alarming. His wing had the same pattern it always had, but just that. His Triforce piece was gone.
No…
I turned to face Ghirahim who had also gotten up. He showed me his newly acquired Triforce piece with a taunting laugh. Scowling, I charged him with a yell of rage, only to have him teleport away at the last second, his mocking laughter echoing in my ears.
I just stood there, breathing heavily in shock.
"Link? Is everything ok?" Zelda asked.
She got her answer as I fell to one knee, stabbing my sword in the ground with a cry of frustration and despair. Once more Ganon had won, the Triforce of Power was now in his hands, and I had failed to stop any of it.
I had failed…