"Uhhh..."
Zant tried to walk another step, but fell to his knees instead. He cursed involuntarily. The King of the Twilight Realm, brought down by a boy! He forced himself to look at his right hand, or rather, the space where it used to be. The wrist had been cut clean through, and the pain jabbed his brain with every beat of his heart. He grabbed at the rim of his helmet with his remaining left hand, abruptly ripping it off and tossing it unceremoniously to the floor. It was no use. He could still not see as clearly as he did before the assault. He was in worse shape than he had thought possible.
He forced his left hand to move again, the fingers twitching. This was the only spell he knew that would work. There was the familiar red glow, and the blue skin of his forearm began to turn black, the cells hardening. Zant bit his lower lip as the darkness spread upward, eventually enveloping the bloody stump and turning the exposed flesh as black as everything else. His yellow eyes blinked again and again. It still hurt, but the wound was tended to.
But his troubles did not end there.
The voice came back to him, the voice that had touched his soul back in his homeworld. He stood up a little straighter. It occurred to him for the first time to that he had unconsciously teleported onto the prime staircase, the one that led directly to the throne of Hyrule Castle. He felt, not heard, the voice again, and he began to scramble up the staircase as he did his best to ignore the agony of his forced movements.
He just barely avoided tripping over himself as he finally got to the top of the staircase. He scurried over to the throne, and flung himself to his knees. He dared to raise his head.
"My...my lord..."
Ganondorf, former King of the Gerudo Thieves, wielder of the Triforce of Power, and master of both the Light Realm and the Twilight Realm, gave the slightest of nods.
"You may rise."
Zant bowed his head and started back up on to his feet. He stopped briefly from the pain.
The smallest smile came across Ganondorf's face as his lip curled upward.
"You may rise," he repated. When he saw Zant standing fully erect, he nodded once more and cleared his throat. "Now then, tell me what news you have to bring and what has become of your hand."
"Y-yes, my lord." Zant gripped his stump. "I was on the verge of taking the Fused Shadows from Princess..." He managed to smirk. "the former Princess Midna, and then dispose of both her and that boy she allied with." He scowled. "But then another boy, who looked just like the original, came out from nowhere and savaged me."
"Is that so?" Ganondorf stroked the short beard on his chin. "The Hero is nothing if not full of surprises..."
"Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn," Zant interrupted. "But I sense that the whelp and Midna are in the castle. With your permission, I shall take my leave from your presence and dispose of them."
Ganondorf pierced Zant's soul with his eyes as his jaw tightened, barely stifling a laugh. He shook his head slowly.
"You failed with both hands. What can you expect to do with one?"
Zant swallowed hard. "My lord…I am prepared to take the risk in your name. Please…"
Ganondorf did not say anymore. He simply raised a hand, and Zant was flung backward by an invisible force, falling flat on his back. As he spasmed on the stone floor, Ganondorf got up from the throne and walked straight past him.
"Do not question me again." The higher king did not even look back as he spoke. "And do not stand until after I'm gone."
Zant's head was spinning, and his back hurt. But his remaining hand clenched into a fist. And for the first time in the past while, the pain from his right stump could not cloud his senses.
"Well, let's all of us move on!" Midna slammed a fist into her palm. "Now that all that time travel stuff's over with, let's keep our eyes on the prize! We have to find Zant and show him what for!"
She could see it now; Zant at her feet, and her body restored to its prestige and glory. Then thence home to the Twilight Realm, and good-bye and good riddance to this world of light, and World B along with it.
Link suddenly looked at Zelda with concern in his eyes. She shook her head.
"I'm not sure if we need to search for him, Midna. He may be coming for us...him, or his benefactor."
"Benefactor?"
"Yes." Zelda shook her head. "You mentioned Zant having a power unknown to anyone...that is, anyone from the Twilight Realm. As of now, I can only think of one possible individual who could have provided it."
"Hm." Midna waved her hands, summoning the Fused Shadows and letting them float about her body. "With these, I'm betting that he'll have a bit more than he can chew with the Princess of Twilight. So, where could he be?"
Before Zelda could respond, there was an explosion of sound and light as the roof disintegrated. Link was half a split-second behind, lunging forward and pulling both Zelda and Midna to the floor. He covered them with his own body, debris bouncing off his back. It felt miraculous to him that he was not flattened ouright.
When the sound subsided and the three regained their senses, they looked up.
There was now a fourth figure, his skin green and his hair bright red. He was covered from the neck down in black armor, and he carried a sheathed sword loosely in his left hand. His wine-colored cape billowed in the wind, for he floated in it.
His smile grew broader, and he bowed his head.
"Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Princess Midna of the Twilight Realm." When he looked at Link, his hand gripped the sword more tightly as his right hand went for the handle. He guffawed heartily. "And the Hero."
"Ganondorf, at your service."
Chapter 4 is out! As the game didn't really show a Ganondorf-vs-Fused Shadows! Midna fight, I'll give it a shot myself next up!
