Chapter 35: Facing Fate
"It isn't possible," Link said, his lips quivering.
"And just why not?" Ganondorf asked, stepping closer. He wore the same clothing Link had seem him in last; his draping robe covered him from his shoulders to his feet. His bloody red hair rounded his face from his head to his chin. "I warned you, Link. I warned you, but you didn't listen. I promised you that I would return no matter where you were and what you were doing. I will have my vengeance."
"I don't understand," Link exclaimed. "I killed you. I watched you die. You were cast to stone. I thought it was over."
Ganondorf held in his hands a sword. Quickly he unsheathed his dual blades from behind his back and put the sword in its place. "And that is where you went wrong. You turned your back on the past, boy. You obstinately looked only forward, refusing to remember what once was." Ganondorf held the dual swords forward, scraping them together. "The old fool, the King of Hyrule, was the one who freed me. If it wasn't for him, I would still be a block of stone at the bottom of the ocean."
Farore's words, which now seemed like distant memories, came rushing back to Link like a lost dream.
Ganondorf will only return if the King of Red Lions himself pulls free the Sword of Evil's Bane from his stone body.
"Why would the King do that?" Link asked to himself.
"He was clinging on a lost dream, a last hope, just as you are," Ganondorf explained. "But you have both failed to acknowledge what you are, that the world is changing. Ironic that someone who was destined to change the world can't even accept the changes in himself."
Link wondered what he could possibly do to save himself now. The Four Sword was gone, and now he had little to protect himself with. "This is my destiny," Ganondorf said, holding the swords forward, "and I will accept it."
The King of Darkness jumped into the air, landing right beside Link. He swiped his two swords through the air, but Link ducked and quickly jumped backwards. The Hero set loose an arrow as fast as he could, but it hit nothing by the flat of Ganondorf's blade. The King of Darkness jumped into the air, preparing to dig the dual swords into Link's body, but the Hero withdrew the Wind Waker at the last second. He called forth streams of air to catch Ganondorf before he hit the ground. Link held him in the air for a moment, gathering strength, and then hurled him through the trees and across the forest.
When Ganondorf arose, he was covered in twigs and fallen leaves. "You pathetic fool," Ganondorf muttered angrily. He held out his hand and a single triangle upon it glowed a golden light. "You forget that I have the Triforce of Power on my side." He extended his palm and allowed a beam of darkness to release, rushing through the forest, taking down any trees and bushes in its path.
At the last second, Link jumped to the side, allowing the mass of energy to erupt in flames behind him. The Hero reached into his pack and took out a bundle of rope: his grappling hook. He twirled it in the air and threw it up into the trees, positioning it in place. Link jumped and swung forward, letting go and hammering Ganondorf in the face when he least suspected it. Both warriors fell to the forest floor at once, fumbling to grab hold of a weapon.
On the ground, Ganondorf attempted to stab Link with his swords, but the Hero narrowly blocked the hits with the edge of his boomerang. Rolling to the side for cover, Link jumped as another bundle of energy whizzed by him. He threw his boomerang forward, but Ganondorf ducked and it came back to his hands. He tried to hit Ganondorf with a few arrows, but each time the King of Darkness stopped the arrows with his two blades.
"Do you feel it?" Ganondorf asked, drawing closer. Having tried everything he could, Link was on the ground, desperately backing away with his hands and feet as Ganondorf stepped closer. "That is the touch of death. It has come for you, Link. Your time is up."
Link gripped the Wind Waker and thrust it forward, summoning torrents of wind to pick Ganondorf up and throw him into the sky. But as the winds circled around the King of Darkness, Link saw that nothing could move him. Ganondorf stood his ground, stubbornly fighting off the waves of air surrounding him. Link held his hand in the air for a long time, begging for Ganondorf to give in; but eventually Link could hold the winds no longer, and his hand dropped to the ground.
"How!" Link cried.
"It is just as I told you," Ganondorf said, just feet away from him. "You turned your back upon your past, and now fate is rushing up to you." Link's eyes were moist with tears. He could no longer fight. Ganondorf had never touched him in battle, but he had penetrated a part of him that was the most vulnerable of all. Link knew that without a weapon as sufficient as the Four Sword or the Hero's Sword, he could never defeat Ganondorf again.
His blades were inches away from Link now, but all he could do was stare into the black night sky and remember his meeting with the Oracle. She had known all along this would happen. She had known all along that Ganondorf would return, and that he would fail. Why had she deceived him?
When Link had asked her if there was any chance of failure, she had replied,
You will only die if the King of Evil returns.
The two blades entered his body through his chest. Ganondorf pushed them further, until the hilts touched him, until the blades extended out of his back.
Link fell into Ganondorf's arms, and the Gerudo Thief dropped him to the ground. Ganondorf withdrew the sword from behind his back and replaced the dual swords. He placed the other sword on Link's lifeless body, wrapping the Hero's arms around the handle. "In the end your mythical blade proved nothing. It was nothing but a myth, a hopeless dream. Just like your life." Ganondorf then put his ear to Link's chest, and when he heard no heartbeat, he walked away into the night, leaving the dead Hero to his eternal rest.
