Majora's War - Part 11
-Before Time-
Ghiradrim remembered it well, his paradise.
Twilight was chaos.
Chaos was anarchy.
Anarchy was fun.
He remembered how lowly he started. Barely a speck, but he had something other specks didn't have. He understood weakness. It was a small advantage, but it was enough to bring him ahead. He consumed his peers and rose, and grew. Their power was added to his own. Their advantages, their strengths, all the things that made them special became a part of him. He evolved. With each meal he evolved.
He was one amongst countless trillions who rose from the primordial goop and threw themselves with abandon upon anything they found in their hunger. He was one amongst millions who grew. He was one amonst thousands that stood. He was one amongst hundreds that feasted. He was one amongst five that led.
Wrath. He was as powerful and straightforward as they came. Always angry. Always fighting. Ghiradrim remembered him also to be honorable and without deceit.
Despair. He was as slothful as he was a constant. All things decay, all things die, all things despair, all things face in the inevitable. Ghiradrim also remembered him and his Twilight to be content in inevitability and yet have the strongest of wills to endure.
Ambition. He was always shifting from one thought to the next, always plotting, always counter-plotting, always questioning and analyzing and anxious. Ghiradrim also remembered him as being the smartest and most fun to toy with.
Anarchy. He was a prideful loner and despised everyone as much as they despised him, but Ghiradrim respected him for his fierce independance. He accepted no pack.
Then there was Depravation. The innate corruption of lesser beings. Their flaws. Their weakness. He was weakness itself, and so he was weak himself. Depravation was considered the weakest among them, but in their folly and pride... where did that get them?
When the Triple Goddesses came, what did their power do them?
When Courage slew Anarchy, what good was his pride?
When Wisdom slew Ambition, did not his plots fail him?
When Courage and Wisdom together slew Despair, was he as inevitable as he claimed?
And then there was Wrath...
Ghiradrim still remembered it. That battle. As their brothers fought, Din had formed of herself one who was mightier than the others. Power, they named him. Power who was to equal the mightiest among them. Yet, equal did not mean victor. Power was valiant and mighty, and he had the advantage at first, but as he fought, he came to understand the true feriocity of Wrath. As Wrath fought he grew stronger. Every wound fueled the monster, every cut and gash spurred it onto greater strength. The longer it fought the greater it was. Power very well might have been able to fight for eternity, but Depravation snuck in and aided his brother. He poured thoughts and weakness into the mind of the Divine's greatest. He instilled doubt. He invited weakness.
Were the Divine to directly step in, all would be lost, and so Depravation made a plan.
To understand Wrath, Power had to understand what Wrath was and how it had grown to be strong. Then Deprevation invited a thought. It was a single thought. A single idea. But it was enough.
What if Power could do the same? What if Wrath's power, was Power's power?
In a moment of weakness, Power did not fight Wrath as he had before, and fought him as one of his own kind would.
He consumed him.
It lasted a moment. It lasted an eternity. Wrath and Power fought and wrestled with one another, coming closer and closer until in a moment they seemed to become one.
The darkness of the Twilight fell from the sky as rain. The realms peeled themselves apart. Din showed her face onto the world and searched for him. She was angry with what he had done to her servant. Deprevation fell to the earth and felt her wrathful eye burn his black-flesh white. It burned more than anything he had ever known, and in his agony, he fled. He burrowed himself deep to lick his wounds.
Deprevation. Jhinn. Fortuna. Demon. Cintamani. Syamanta. Ghiradrim. It mattered not what the mortals called him. He was the weakest in the prior age, but now he found himself the greatest of the next. He vowed to himself he would have his due. He would show all of them their weakness, just before he consumed them.
-Present-
Ghiradrim screamed as something ancient pierced his back and cut a swath from hip to shoulder. His bladed arm fell fell to the ground, cut from his body. He reacted instantly, turning around and grabbing Link's hand where he held the glaive. His eyes widened in recognition and surprise.
"You!" Ghiradrim hissed. Link looked back in surprise, caught off guard by the thing's reflexes, and tried to pull back, but the monster's grip was iron. Link tried to use his gift, and his triangle lit up under the creature's grip, but the creature merely smiled.
"This isn't my first time, Courage."
The monster's remaining arm and hand turned black and split into thousands of thin needles, all aimed at him. Ghiradrim flinched in pain and a sickening crunch exploded from his chest as a large black fist burst out of his torso. Black blood fell from Ghiradrim's mouth and his eyes turned down towards the hand.
"Link, I need to borrow something." Ganondorf said.
"Take it!" Link replied.
The triangle on Link's hand flared briefly before disappearing entirely. A second triangle flared on Ganondorf's hand, he clenched his fist. Red and green fire exploded all around them and out of Ghiradrim's mouth and eyes as Ganon aimed the singularity inside the monster's rib cage.
Ganondorf and Link were both thrown by the explosion. They collapsed where they landed. When the fire and smoke fell, in a small crater, stood Ghiradrim. Ganondorf hissed at the sight of the monster standing tall. He could barely move, but could only lay where he was, numb. That attack was his final card to play.
Ghiradrim's eyes rolled up and into the back of his head. His jaw hung open, screaming silently in pain. Black blood poured from his chest and down his back and he was missing an arm. Unlike before, these wounds were not healing. Unlike before, this seemed to truly hurt him. Ghiradrim fell to his knees. Ganon grinned.
Slowly feeling returned to Ganon's legs. Slowly he put a foot down and braced his weight onto it. He fell onto his face the first time, but on the second attempt he was able to hold his weight and crawl forward. He cast his eyes briefly towards Link. Link was unmoving where he had fallen.
The larger Twilight monster lunged forward, shaking the ground, throwing Ganon and Link aside, and in extending its jaws wider than should have been possible, swallowed Ghiradrim whole. In one of its pus sacs fell a body. It turned its attention south and threw itself forward through the trees. Its stomps shook the ground and the trees were knocked down and trambled before its hide. The other Twilight of the pack looked briefly to Link and Ganon, hissed, and raced after it.
A moment of silence passed. Nothing more moved. The enemy had retreated.
While it may have seemed like a victory, Ganon cursed under his breath. The monsters still had Malon!
"Link!" Ganon exclaimed. Ganon put his second foot down and braced his weight on it, he stumbled and leaned against a half-broken tree, but he managed. His legs shook for the numbness coursing through him. Whatever Ghiradrim had done to make him numb, it was proving to be temporary.
Ganon rushed his way towards where Link had fallen. A log had fallen over him and Ganon pushed it aside to reveal the young man had fallen into a crevice in the ground.
Link was scarily pale and blood was openly pouring from hundreds of wounds across his body. It reminded Ganon of what he had seen back in Mitagi.
"By the Realms..." Ganon whispered. "What happened to you?" The larger man took hold of Link's shoulder and started to pick him up, but his gaze fell on the back of his hand. Two triangles were lit. Briefly, Ganon's attention shifted between the triangles and Link and his brows furrowed.
Could it be connected?
Link's triangle flared to life again, and Link gasped. His eyes snapped open, his color returned, and he leaped up, only to stumble as his body was seemingly numb too. Ganon watched him leap about in concern.
"What-Where... Where'd he go?!" Link asked. He picked up his spear where it had fallen and spun around, searching for the enemy.
"The big one took him and fled. That way." Ganon motioned towards the obvious path of broken trees and crumbled earth.
"And Malon?"
Ganon shook his head sadly.
Link clenched his teeth and searched down the path, but the monsters were gone from sight. "Then we go after them!"
"Not yet."
Link spun around, "What do you mean, not yet?!"
Ganondorf looked around. His home was torn to the ground and in a puddle of some liquid that hissed. The land was trambled by multiple sources and was covered in corpses and blood. Over in the crater was... a sword oddly enough. Ganondorf picked it up and examined it. It reminded him of Harken's blade for some reason. It lacked a handle, but he could turn it into a fine blade later.
"Thats your ward!" Link yelled.
"She is my daughter!" Ganon corrected. "I formally adopted her the year before we marched to war against Zhao! I know very well what is at stake!"
"Then why-"
"Because this foe is proving to be beyond what either of us could have expected. Both in his might and reasons. I tried the straight-forward approach and this is where it has gotten us. He is wounded. He will fight dirty. We will hunt him down and finish him, but first we must concolodate what we have rather than blindly rush into the unknown... as I did." Ganon nodded towards the trail. "Not like we don't have a clear path before us as it is."
Link looked between Ganon and the path. Ganon knew Link well enough to know they thought much the same way. They were both straight forward and simple. They both were the kind to rush headlong into the deepest part of the fray, against the biggest foe. While Ganon was this way from barely contained fury, Link was less experienced and mature.
"Fine," Link sighed. He roped his arms together. "What is your plan?"
"I don't have a plan, yet. But the Twilight are fleeing into Fae territory. It would be wise to regroup with the Fae and take him on with a more organized force." A sound drew Ganon's attention and he looked to see Malon's mother was alive and well, albeit struggling to descend a hill amidst the destruction done to the landscape. "Thanks for protecting her."
Link gaped, and Ganon looked back. Was this young man insane? "What?"
"This is the first time you've thanked me... for anything."
Ganon blinked. Truly? In hindsight he had never thought much of his counter-part, but then the events of late had left him... melancholy and seeing his fellow 'Destined' from a different point of view.
"Whatever." Ganon grunted. Seeking to change subject, he asked, "What was that about?"
"What?"
Ganon looked down at him heavily. "I had used your power, your mark, to create an explosion greater than any I have used before in this fight, while keeping it from harming either of us. Yet I still find you as still and pale and deathly as a corpse. I know my power did not harm us, and it does not pass my notice that returning your mark to you immediately restored your life... and lively energy. So I ask you again, what was that about?"
Link stared up at him for a long moment. He gulped and looked away, but still Ganon gazed down at him, waiting.
"Well..."
"Yes?"
"Its only happened a few times," Link said. "The last time that bastard from Mitagi ripped it from me before Zelda told me you had returned it. But when I lose my mark, I do as you say. I become extremely weak. Wounds sprout all over me, both my scars and ones I don't know I've ever had. I... feel like I'm dieing."
"Zelda had lost her mark as well for a time, but the impact on her wasn't as intense. She looked sickly while you have looked like a corpse." Ganon commented.
"I don't know! Okay, I don't know! It just does that." Link exclaimed. He furiously ran his fingers through his hair. "It just feels like I'm a soulless corpse, where the weight of my own body is crushing, I lose all feeling, and I have the faint sense that I'm bleeding all over my front and back. It's shit! Why don't you try it and get back to me on what it's like!"
"I did." Ganon narrowed his eyes briefly. He didn't understand Link's outburst. Seemed he had hit a bit of a nerve in the young man.
"Oh..."
"It was as if my soul and body were ripped apart. I even went so far as to give you and Zelda your marks back, while mine was still missing, and it left me... hungry and tortured, as if I didn't belong in this reality. My body became a corporeal shadow."
"A what?"
"A..." Ganon shook his head. "Never mind. It doesn't matter." Ganon looked down towards the path the Twilight left behind. "We need to regroup and finish this."
-Later-
Following the battle, Ganondorf Dragmire, Kuroko Dragmire, and Link departed to meet up with the Dragmire exodites. As Ganon expected, the group was halted by the Fae forces on their border. A wall of vines and trees rose to meet them and a number of wooden shells stood before them. The Fae to have escorted the exodites and the Fae to halt them were conversing in their silent way when the three found them.
One Fae stepped forward and bowed to them in greeting, "Son of Din, it is a pleasure to see you again."
Ganondorf returned the greeting, "It is good to see our brothers have found us, but which Fae am I speaking to?"
"You know me as the patriarch and elder. We fought together in Kanyou of Qin and Mitagi of Qin." Elder looked down at his shell. His wooden shell was covered in vines and leaves and looked ancient, most unlike the smooth and polished wooden form he used among the Qin. "Though I understand why you may not recognize me. This shell is different from the one you know. Yet be assured I am the one you already know."
Seeing him again, Link burst out in smiles and loudly exclaimed, "Elder! What happened to you, you look so old!"
Elder chuckled, "It is good to see you too, Son of Farore. I assure you, I do not age as you think. What you see is merely the empty husk I am using as a vessel of wooden flesh for my purposes here."
Kuroko merely stared in wide-eyed, slack-jawed awe. Elder turned his attention to her, "I see you have brought yet another of Din's lost." The wooden giant bent its legs forward and leaned down towards her. She fled back several steps and hid behind Ganon, but no further as Elder made no forward actions but to briefly bow. "I taste great pain in your shell and your cracked soul screams. If you desire it, you may stay for a time and let it heal."
Ganon looked back at the frightened woman and smirked in amusement. "She may wish it later, as she was victim to a Majora's Exile mask; but for now there are more immediate concerns. Rebellion has risen among the Majora concerning my blood and kin."
"Yes, your escorts have told me. I understand what has arisen against you and your purposes here." Elder briefly cast his gaze across the Dragmire people before him. "My soul says to accept you here, yet I also have reservations."
Ganon narrowed his eyes at his old friend. Would they not be accepted here? "Reservations?"
"Those we welcome are under our protection, but also become seperate from the world. Part of this seperation demands that there is no return to the world, at least while the generations they knew yet live. Yet you wish to be welcomed, and under our protection, but also to return to the world quickly. This is not in our ways. We yearn to aid you, but you seek conditions that are impossible. Even if I were to try and bend the rules, the ways of the forest and the powers would keep you here against your will."
"But-" Link stepped in, "You accepted Zelda and I for a few days and then let us go!"
"That was in a specially chosen location that is neutral ground," Elder answered. "And there is no such neutral ground that can hold all of you. You must stay out."
Ganon continued to glare at the Elder silently. Elder saw his trepidation and said, "I know it is distasteful, but it is for your own protection."
Link looked between the two of them and stepped back. Ganon eyes and hair looked particurally red and fiery.
Ganon whispered harshly, "The Majora told me to take my kin and leave for our protection. We come to you to flee our pursuers, and you tell us to stay out for our protection. Shall we go to Qin next to be rejected as well 'for our protection'? Elder, your words ring hollow when I remember being among an escort of children who entered your forest to seek a masking trial into the depths of your domain and returned safely."
Elder stayed silent and provided no answer. Ganon scoffed, "I will forgive this slight for old times sake and long time friendships, but do not expect me to forget this easily. So you mean to say none of us may enter?"
"That is correct."
"Wait," Kuroko stepped out from hiding. "What of my daughter? What of Malon?!"
"Malon? She means your ward?" Elder asked Ganon.
Ganon answered, "Yes. Malon was taken by a monster named Ghiradrim who fled into your domain with a pack of Twilight. This is my second purpose here, to hunt him and save her."
His words made the Fae stir and they spoke to one another in a hurry with silent words. Finally, Elder looked back to Ganon, alarmed. "This Ghiradrim. He has a shell as white as snow from his hair to his feet without any blemish?"
"Yes, but his blood is black as night for some reason."
"Oooohhh." The Elder said deeply. His tone was one of knowledge, of despair, of understanding the power of what he knew, and ultimately fearing it. It was not a tone of surprise or ignorance, but as if one who feared what one already suspected may come to pass.
"You know him?" Ganon questioned.
The Elder nodded. "Ghiradrim... it is one name among many the monster has had. I do not know its true name, but it is far older than even I. It knew you, in your many cycles, son of Din. It always served you in one way or another, yet always stayed hidden and protected by your power. It is an enigma in history, but the last I had heard of it, it had chosen to associate itself briefly with Harken Dragmire... when you were born and the Dragmire rebellion occured."
Ganon's eyes widened. Link gasped, though he did not understand it as fully as Ganondorf did.
Ghiradrim was involved in his birth? Ghiradrim was involved in the Dragmire's curse? Ghiradrim and Ganon had known each other in past lives? Ganon clenched his fists tightly and struggled to contain rising fury that shot through his veins.
It didn't matter to Ganon that he had known the monster before. It didn't matter that Ghiradrim wanted him back. Ghiradrim was playing a game that had seemingly gone on for generations, that was toying with nations and peoples, and for all of it the monster seemingly did it on Ganon's behalf. Yet none of this was what Ganon ever wanted. He had never wished for it. The monster claimed to be a wish-maker, but he was a deceiver.
The source of Ganon's fury, the source of his curse, the source of his peoples torment, was this one man, if one were to call it a man. Because the monster had played with powers and brought about a demonic soul and a fury deep in Ganon's soul that he constantly struggled with keeping from consuming him.
"Ghiradrim," The Elder continued, "Is a Twilight beyond any of you. If you have encountered him and lived, then consider yourself blessed and know he will only learn from it and there will be no second time. It is good that you have warned me. We have spent these seasons searching for the source of the Twilight within Qin, but if Ghiradrim is here, then I have no doubt he is to be the source. If he has chosen to come here, then we will make our war with him and drive him out."
"And what of us?!" Kuroko snapped. Her sudden outburst made Ganon jump in surprise. "Are we to just turn away and leave Malon to her death?!"
"We will do what we can to save her as well."
"What assurances can you offer of her safety?!" Kuroko demanded. She stepped up to the giant. "You don't even know where they are! You don't know they will just kill her the moment Ganon doesn't show himself, as she was a hostage against him!"
"Again, we will do what we can." Elder answered. He looked between them all. "I am sorry for the plight you have suffered, but please understand the powers behind me will be your undoing. There are things at work in our land that is beyond your understanding. Protections will be offered around our border so you may go where you wish under our leaves, and we can make you shorts and shields of the hardest wood to borrow, but that is the best I can offer."
Without waiting for further response, Elder gave a longing look to Ganon and Link before stepping back into the forest. His wooden shell melted into the tree-wall and he disappeared. More of his Fae followed him until only a few were left. Kuroko ran up to the vines and kicked it. True to the Elder's words, parts of the trees morphed and melted and spun and formed weapons of various makes that clattered to the ground. The Dragmire were hesitant to take them, but Kuroko picked up a short sword and yelled at them to stop being cowards. At the Dragmire elder's bidding, the people went forward and took what they could and gave them out as needed.
Ganon sighed. This had proven disappointing. Behind him he heard his people whispering. They wondered what they would do, where they would go, and what hope there was. It seemed to them that their last hope had rejected them and left them to the wolves. He wished he could give them an answer, but he had none even for himself. He had thought he would receive some guidance from Din, as his sole objective had been in his spirit for so long, until he didn't know where his home was anymore. Scant few accepted him anywhere and the rest feared him.
"Go," Kuroko whispered.
Ganon looked to her, curious.
Kuroko looked at Ganon angrily. Her hair flared and her eyes red. She clenched her fists and she spoke quietly. "F*** them! If they won't help us, then we will help ourselves. You know where he is taking Malon. So go, bring her back."
The elders of the Dragmire stepped forward, "We agree with the woman. If our enemy has taken one of us, then we will not be whole until she is restored to us. Do not fear, Lord Ganon. We can fend for ourselves until you return. We will head north around this forest barrier and rest overnight. We will wait for you."
"And if our enemy comes for us?" Ganon wondered.
"The hospitality of the Fae seems to have its limits, but they are still offering some." One said.
"We should be safe if we stay near." Another added.
The Majora to escort them also stepped forward, "We will watch over your people still, Lord Dragmire. Though our orders were to bring you this far, it would not do well to us if we did not see this through until you are safe."
"Go!" Kuroko exclaimed.
Ganon looked between them and nodded. If they could do well without him, then he would do what we could. Ganon adjusted the belt holding his swords to his back and turned to find Link standing behind him expectantly, hopping back and forth on his feet. Solitare stood next to him smiling knowingly. Ganon felt an eye twitch.
"Link-"
"Thought you'd never ask!" Link spun around and ran back where they had come.
Ganon watched him disappear out of sight before turning back to Solitare. "Would you aid me? While Link and I can keep Ghiradrim occupied, I find your talents will be useful in retrieving my daughter. I do think Link and I have powers that will protect us from the forest, but I do not know if our proximity will protect you too."
Solitare nodded. "I will be honored."
"Good... at least someone has manners." Ganon sighed. Solitare chuckled.
The two raced after Link to catch up with him, then they raced to the site of the old battle, and then raced down the trail left behind by the Twilight in their flight.
Immediately as they set foot onto the path, the world around them changed. The brightness of the forest fell into darkness. The trees grew gnarly and twisted. The laughter and birdsong of the distant forest fell into silence and moaning and creaking. Judgement bared its beady eyes on them and silently demanded they leave, but they did not listen or stop to see who was watching them. A thick smog mellowed in the trees, the branches reached out for them, and the roots leaped at their feet. At moments the trees seemed to move and grow larger and tighter until they could not see a gap between them, and the trees grew to be dozens of feet wide. But despite all of this the path stayed clear and nothing alive dared step foot on it. It was as if something large had rubbed its belly across the ground and paved away all life with its touch. The path wound and turned.
At one point they stopped and marveled as the path took them through what looked like a village of sorts molded seamlessly into the largest tree's hollows. A small group had built their home in the tree. The tree bark was covered in scratches and a make-shift door was beaten in. They saw no body but the unmistakable sight of blood from outside the door told the story.
Link walked up to the door and peered in. Ganon had a thought to mock him in saying the people here would have been tiny, seeing as how Link was just the right height for its door, but the oppressive atmosphere held his tongue. Link stepped in and gulped. "There are stairs leading up. The entire tree from base to top seems to have been carved out to be used as a home for them."
Ganon crawled in through the hole that made up the door and stepped in. He had to bow his head. He could have broken the door wide open and shattered the ceiling to allow for his size, but he would not offer disrespect to the dead. The base of the tree had the largest room around which were many smaller ones that each had a bedding and furniture of various sizes and purposes. It gave him of the impression it was a spiral-shaped hotel leading ever upwards.
"Link..." Solitare whispered mournfully. Her breathing hitched and she turned aside from what she had found. Link went up first and Ganon followed as best he could. What they found was a drawing on the side of the wall. It showed four larger creatures and a lot of small ones, easily dozens.
This was a massive family.
Ganon shared a glance with Link. Link looked down and shook his head before walking back down. Ganon set a hand aflame and gently brushed his hand over the drawing, burning it out. When he was done he stepped down to find Link sitting on the ground with his back to the wall and his spear leaning against his shoulder. Link's gaze was focus and purposeful and unmerciful. In the room next to Link was gentle crying.
Ganon said, "We should rest for a few hours. We have been running well into the night, we will no longer be able to see the path without proper light, and will need to be in fighting shape when we catch up."
"I will take watch for the time, you rest." Link immediately replied. "You sleep. I didn't fight as hard as you and your strength will be important."
"Link, you need it to."
"I can go several days without sleep and on the move..." Ganon continued to stare at Link, because they both knew Ganon to be a warrior too. If anything, Ganon bet he could go even longer without sleep and still fight harder than him. Link gulped, "And besides... I don't think I will be able to."
"Fine," Ganon allowed. He was too large to fit into the rooms, so he laid himself down in the lobby while Link sat by the door.
Sleep did not come well to any of them. When the first light rose, Link stood and woke them. Ganon had slept the hardest between them as he was worn from his battle, but his sleep was filled with nightmares.
In his nightmares he saw himself in many mirrors and open door ways and windows. Each were different with a difference face and wearing different clothes, but each were him. In all of them he embraced his strength and forced his will onto the world, whether anyone wanted him or not. In every mirror he was mighty and strong. In some of them he found himself fighting others who had glowing marks on their hands like him. Sometimes he killed them, sometimes he was killed by them.
At first it was just an oddity, but it slowly grew on him that there was a pattern. He had followers of various types and sizes, but in all of them, one after another, and without exception, he saw that one follower was a man of extremely white complexion. While he sat on a throne, the albino was at his right hand. While he conquered, the albino was behind him. While he schemed and claimed his victories, the white-man stood in the shadows smiling and watching.
The images and scenes to play out from one opening to another grew older and older. He saw himself fighting at the helms of a great army equipped with steel at first, but by the end of the passage he saw himself wearing nothing more than a loincloth and filthy beating to death an equally semi-naked and dirty man with a rock. The man he beat to death had a glowing mark like himself. The killer with a rock looked up into Ganon's eyes, and in them was a deep redness and anger.
The environment filled with fire and smoke. All of the images and openings did, and in all of them, as Ganon looked between them, was glowing red eyes leering at him. The air filled with mocking laughter. Ganon shut his eyes against it all. When he opened them again, he found himself standing amidst the smoking ruins of a castle. He was tall and powerful, and two men were before him. The first wore armor Ganon recognized as being similar to what the Guardian of Mitagi wore, and the other was a man in white robes. The robed man held his bloody arm and eyed both the armored one and Ganon with equal distrust. The armored man had dented armor and kept a shield up facing both the robed man and Ganon. A golden crown lay broken between them. Ganon felt fire pump through his veins from his heart, and he roared. At his roar, the two scattered and he brought a great blade of fire on them. The robed man raised his hand and an etheral knight appeared briefly bearing a great shield. The shield stopped his sword, but the spirit knight disappeared immediately after. The armored man appeared in a flash beneath Ganon and brought a blade up into his chest. The blade penetrated the fire around his skin and into his flesh. It burned with a foreign and dangerous flame to him, and Ganon stepped back, roaring his pain. Chains appeared all over, grabbing him and wrapping him, and a well of water appeared in the air as if by magics. The robed man pointed at Ganon, and before Ganon's eyes a great etheral knight appeared. The spiritual knight bore a bow, pulled it back, and shot an arrow as bright as the morning into Ganon's face.
Ganon jolted awake.
