Chapter Five: Grief, Betrayal, and Vengeance

"Your forces…were defeated." It came out slowly, in a deadly calm that even the Witch-king trembled before, even though it was through a palantír and not face-to-face.

"…Yes, Master. We almost had the city in our grasp. I even slew their king in single combat, but…when victory seemed at hand, a host of enemy reinforcements attacked us from the west. Our arrows and spears were useless against them. They fought with the strength of Trolls, and we were caught off-guard."

Sauron, however, did not seem to accept this excuse. "You fool. I trusted you to lead this campaign, and already you have lost your first battle!"

"A mistake I shalt not repeat, Lord," the Witch-king answered. "Since our return, I have had Easterling and Haradrim scouts dispatched to all four corners of this land to gather information, and…"

"You should have done that before you attacked," Sauron answered coldly. "Your blunder cost us the element of surprise!"

"Master…I do not think the element of surprise ever was on our side."

"What do you mean?" Sauron growled, his hidden eyes narrowing beneath his ponderous helm.

"The enemy reinforcements," the Witch-king slowly explained. "They could not have arrived as soon as they had without advanced warning. I don't know exactly how, but I believe they may have been warned of our coming."

"When you first made contact there, you encountered natives. Were they exterminated?"

"We drove them from this fortress, and our Warg-riders pursued them for many miles…"

"Were. They. Eliminated?" Sauron was losing his patience.

It should not have been possible, but the Nazgûl Lord actually managed to look slightly sheepish as he finally admitted, "Our Warg-riders…returned empty-handed. They claimed to have pursued them into a forest of some sort, but something scared them off. The stupid creatures could not describe it, but something about the forest terrified them so much that they turned and fled. When they finally returned…they spotted two riders heading for the castle. A boy, and one of the desert natives. The Warg-pack…failed to catch them."

There was chilling silence on Sauron's end of the palantír. The Witch-king nervously fidgeted, awaiting the explosion that was soon to erupt.

But Sauron's response was quiet and low, which was even worse, as it meant that his master was so enraged that emotion utterly failed him. The Dark Lord's most terrifying punishments were often spawned from his wicked mind when this tranquil fury took hold.

"Had I known that you would fail me so utterly here, I would have led this campaign myself."

The Witch-king visibly winced. "Yes, Lord."

"I am giving you one chance to redeem yourself in my eyes. One. If you fail me again, I will come myself, and there will be consequences. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly, Master," the Witch-king acknowledged, withering beneath the piercing stare of the Eye.

"Now, before you begin, I offer you more reinforcements of your choosing. Name it, and it will cross the Ether Bridge tonight and join you."

This was it. The Witch-king knew this defeat was his fault, as he could have wiped out both enemies easily had he brought the whole army with him. But in his arrogance, he had thought he wouldn't need them all, and had kept the greater part of his forces in reserve back in the desert. But he would not make that mistake again. Now that he knew the strength of his enemies, it was time to fight fire with fire. Literally.

"I require the might of the Flame of Udûn…Bring me Durin's Bane."

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When Impa returned to Hyrule Castle from her mission to the Shadow Temple, she was greeted to a scene of utter destruction. The bodies of the dead were piled within the town and outside the walls like shingles in a storm, and a heavy scent of blood and smoke permeated the air. Hundreds of Gorons were pacing around the battlefield, dispatching any enemy survivors they found. The Sheikah warrior broke into a run, thousands of horrible scenarios running through her mind as she raced past the Gorons and the ruined drawbridge into Castle Town, where she halted.

Link and the Goron leader Darunia solemnly stood by as Princess Zelda knelt by the body of her father, weeping. All around them, the surviving Hylian soldiers helped the wounded, while some of the civilians focused on putting out the fires. Impa shook this scene of horror aside as she approached the princess.

Link was the first to notice her approach as his head darted up. "Impa! You're back!"

"Forgive me for the delay," Impa answered gravely. "The spirits of the dead within the Shadow Temple have not rested easily. That place was a house of torment before it became a place of worship, and Harkinian had many political prisoners put there during the Fierce War."

Link shuddered, as he remembered his time in that fearful place. Torture devices everywhere, skeletons whispering things only Navi could hear, the dead walking and seeking his flesh and soul to devour…and the blood. So much blood.

"There's nothing holy about that place," Link said, barely above a whisper.

"It may not seem so, but we made it holy in the hopes that the sacredness of Shadow beyond the evil influence of Majora would honor the spirits of those who were unfairly put to death beneath its shadowed barrows. But it's too little, too late. The dead roam, hating the living for the crimes visited upon them in life. It will never again be safe for those who wish to enter. I will not go there again."

Link nodded in understanding before Impa turned her attention towards Zelda, who was too consumed by grief to acknowledge her caretaker's presence. Impa knelt, a deep sadness in her eyes as she put a gentle hand on Zelda's shoulders. "Princess?"

Without looking up, Zelda sniffed as she said, "My father is dead, Impa…I'm too young to take the throne, and we have no advisors to act as regent until I'm of age." Finally she looked up with tear-stained eyes. "What will we do?"

"There is no one else," Impa sadly answered. "You have to be the one to take the throne." And then she wrapped her charge, the girl she had come to regard very much like her own daughter, up in a warm hug as she said, "But you will not be alone. We Sages will be here to guide you and advise you so that you may act in the best interests of all the people of Hyrule."

Darunia raised a fist. "Your father was my sworn brother. To honor his memory, I will stand by you on behalf of the Goron people, Princess Zelda."

Link smiled as he drew his sword and knelt. "I made this vow before, far in a future that never was. And now I make it again. No matter what happens, no matter where or when I am, I will always fight for you."

Zelda was silent as she looked down upon Link, not knowing what to say. But before she could find words, a soldier ran up to them, his eyes wide with fear. "Y-Your Majesty! Ganondorf…G-Ganondorf has escaped! H-he's gone!"

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Spirit Temple…

Empty.

That was the only way Nabooru could describe it. She had expected those wicked old hags to descend upon her the moment she entered the old temple, or at least send some monster to waylay her, but nothing had appeared. The place was totally abandoned. If that was the case, where in the hell did those witches go? Had Sauron driven them out of here too?

Nabooru silently shook her head as she went up a flight of stairs. No, that didn't make sense. The Spirit Temple was very far out of the way of the enemy's path into Hyrule. They didn't know of this place, and so would not have thought to come this way.

Maybe Zelda had been wrong. Maybe the Twinrova Sisters had finally just croaked of old age, or perhaps they had never been here at all.

Nabooru, however, wasn't totally counting on it, so she hurried through the Spirit Temple towards where she knew the old altar to be. Soon enough she found it, and she slowly walked towards it, feeling a sense of divine power in the air, but a diminished one. Like whatever power here was dormant, waiting to be released.

Letting out a sigh of resignation, she stood before the altar and knelt, folding her hands in prayer as she closed her eyes.

And then, without warning, an invisible force threw her back, slamming her against her back and knocking the wind out of her. And then, just as suddenly, she was lifted into the air and surrounded by a pink prism of energy. "W-what is this?!" Nabooru cried, pounding her fists fruitlessly against her prison.

"Well well well, Koume, it looks like we have a visitor, ho ho ho!"

"Looks like it, Kotake, hee hee hee hee…"

Nabooru's blood froze. They were here. She had been careless.

"How rude of her to enter our temple while we were away! Isn't that right, sister?"

"Oh ho ho ho ho…still, this is quite the unexpected opportunity! Isn't that right, Lord Ganondorf?"

Nabooru's eyes widened as the hated twin sorceresses appeared out of thin air, and standing between them was…

"My king!" she cried, leaning against her prison. "Y-you're free!"

"No thanks to you," Ganondorf growled, bitter betrayal heavy in his tone.

Koume and Kotake cackled as they hovered on their brooms, circling Nabooru like a pair of vultures. "Indeed!" Kotake laughed. "While the rest of you moved on with your petty, pathetic lives, we plotted to help our lord escape!"

"How dare you?!" Nabooru yelled. "For years we demanded that the Hylians free him! But there was no way we could mount a rescue! We didn't have the strength! We hadn't forgotten just how outmatched we were by the Hylian army! What could we have done?! Despite all that, my loyalty to our king never wavered!"

"Eee hee hee hee hee hee!" Koume cackled. "Even now she lies to you, my son! Now do you see her for the snake she is?!"

Choosing to ignore the circling witches, Nabooru instead looked down at her lord, who merely glared at her with his arms folded. "P-please, My Lord…" she begged. "W-what must I do to prove my loyalty to you?"

After a moment of silence, Ganondorf finally spoke. "I will decide that in due time. But until then, you'll rot in a cell just as I did for countless months."

The Twinrova Sisters cackled merrily as they began to lead Nabooru away. The whole way, she begged and pleaded. "No! Please, My Lord! Wait! Wait!"

Ganondorf merely watched as she was taken away, that same glare still on his face. Right before the door slammed shut, she let out one final, "GANONDORF!"

XXXXXX

Two days later…

The funeral for King Harkinian had finally ended. The mourners had returned to their homes, and the King had been laid to rest in the Royal Family's Tomb near the castle, as the old one in Kakariko Village could no longer be used due to undead creatures roaming around inside the catacombs. Right afterwards, Zelda had reluctantly accepted the crown, and now she stood on the castle balcony, with the townspeople crowded together below, waiting with bated breath for whatever she had to say. On each side by her stood Link and Impa, there to offer her silent encouragement as she addressed her people.

"People of Hyrule," Zelda began, her voice carrying across the field. "I have accepted my father's crown, and thus his responsibility for your safety and happiness. But dark times are ahead for our kingdom yet. The foe that attacked our fair city and murdered my father is not through with us yet. They are the servants of an enemy not of our world, who, through unknown means, has learned about our Triforce of the Gods, and seeks to claim its divine power for himself. It is with a heavy heart that I must confirm that war is indeed upon us. To fight back will require the strength of all of Hyrule's people, Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, Kokiri, and Gerudo alike, for our enemy's strength is vast, and we cannot overcome it while we are divided. But that is not the only ill news I bring you. The Gerudo King Ganondorf, whom was prophesied to take up the mantle of Demise himself as the new Demon King, escaped his imprisonment during the battle with the help of whom I believe to be his long-time accomplices, the Twinrova Sisters, and I fear it is only a matter of time before he enters this fight on his own terms. While I doubt he will seek to join forces with our new enemy, there is no doubt that he will be no friend to us. We must rely on the strength of each other if we are to have any chance of stemming the ambitions of two Dark Lords. That is why, until our beautiful land of Hyrule is safe again, I will not take up the mantle of your Queen, but remain your Princess. This is my solemn vow to you, my people."

Zelda paused for a moment, allowing the townsfolk to murmur worriedly amongst themselves, before she chose to continue. "As a result of this unprecedented threat, it is by royal decree that a military draft is henceforth in effect. All men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five are henceforth required to serve in the Hylian army for the duration of this conflict. I need every last one of you for this fight. Hyrule needs every last one of you."

The townspeople were silent as her words sunk in…until a single man abruptly shouted, "I fight for Princess Zelda! Long live Princess Zelda!"

The clamor slowly grew, until the entire crowd chanted, "LONG LIVE THE PRINCESS! LONG LIVE THE PRINCESS!"

Tears fell from her eyes as Zelda looked on.

XXXXXX

Later…

Zelda sat at a large, round table in Hyrule Castle's strategy room, with Link, Darunia, and Impa joining her. Zelda sighed as she placed her folded hands on the table. "We are still at a disadvantage here. Only three Sages are among us at this time. Nabooru and Saria have still not returned from their own journeys, and with Ganondorf having escaped, I now fear even more for Nabooru, as I believe the Spirit Temple has been the hideout for the Gerudo Witches known as the Twinrova Sisters for some time now. It is they who have ceaselessly nurtured the evil in Ganondorf's heart to turn him into a facsimile of the Demon King of old, and I suspect they were the ones who helped him escape while we were distracted. I have no doubts that he has gone with them back to the Spirit Temple. If Nabooru is still there, she could be in even more danger than I initially expected."

Link swallowed heavily. Though he was stronger now and a little older, when he had first encountered Ganondorf face-to-face, the warlord had easily bested him through his dark sorcery. Even if he didn't have the Triforce of Power now, a part of Link still feared that he would suffer the same fate should he and his nemesis come to blows again under similar circumstances.

"The Gerudo Desert and the Kokiri Forest are both a long way from here," Darunia reminded her. "While I understand your concern for Nabooru, I suspect Saria will encounter little trouble with her end of the mission."

"Even if Saria and Nabooru were among us, we are still one Sage short," Impa spoke up. "Princess Ruto of the Zoras must awaken her powers as well. Only then will the circle of Sages be complete."

"So the Sages are all more or less the leaders of their respective peoples?" Darunia asked. "That's as convenient as it is worrisome."

"The Kokiri do not have an official leader amongst themselves apart from the Great Deku Tree," Zelda replied. "And Ruto's father, Zora De Bon the Sixteenth, is the one who rules the Zoras. Still, it is the Sages that must serve as the leaders of their peoples during our battles with Sauron's evil legions. Your powers will serve as a rallying cry for us all. We need the Sages at the front lines, for Sauron has many powerful servants under his thrall, including the foul shade that slew my father in battle."

Zelda's eyes were downcast as she said this, and they knew it was because she had watched him die. "My father plunged his blade deep into that monster's heart, only for that blade to crumble to dust as the wraith cut him down, laughing while he did so…"

"I heard talk among the surviving soldiers and knights," Impa said. "The one who killed Harkinian is the greatest of Sauron's servants, a wraith who calls himself the Witch-king of Angmâr." A collective shudder involuntarily trailed down their spines at the mention of the Nazgûl Lord's name. "This specter claimed to have killed greater beings than our king, and that no living man could slay him."

"So that wasn't Sauron, then," Zelda breathed. "It was yet another one of his servants. I know not whether I should be relieved that this Dark Lord has not come here himself, or afraid because a being of such terrible power calls him Master."

"Look, it doesn't matter how powerful any of them are," Link abruptly said. "If we are to protect Hyrule and the Triforce, we have to fight back regardless, and hope that our strength is enough."

"That still does not answer the question of Ganondorf," Impa reminded them. "With him loose again, it's only a matter of time before he will start summoning monsters to serve him, and though he will fight against Sauron, he will be a major threat to us as well."

"I…truthfully do not know how we will answer that threat," Zelda admitted. "But the Spirit Temple is in the Gerudo Desert. If Ganondorf wants to get to us, he will have to go through Sauron's forces first."

"If that's the case, he might actually not act right away," Link theorized. "If we're lucky, he might even wait until Sauron's army is dealt with before he strikes."

"After which we'll be too exhausted from our fight with Sauron to put up sufficient resistance," Zelda bluntly pointed out.

"Oh." Link looked down as the realization weighed on him. "The answer's right in front of us, isn't it? And yet I don't know if it'll be enough this time."

All of them looked at Link as he sighed. "I defeated Ganondorf once. But that was in the future, and at the time I had the Triforce of Courage and the power of you Sages backing me up. When I first faced him, I was not much younger than I am now, and…well, he wasn't even trying, and I was still easily beaten. And that was before he got his hands on the Triforce and became the King of Evil."

"Yes," Zelda concurred with a nod. "Ganondorf is already a potent sorcerer, with an understandable affinity for dark magic, given his upbringing and nature as Demise reborn." She gave Link a solemn stare. "I agree, Link; as you are, you cannot face Ganondorf as he is now. Even without the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf is still the strongest dark wizard seen in Hyrule since the time of Vaati the Wind Mage. And you are still too young to wield the Master Sword, even if you are worthy of being its bearer, and we simply cannot afford to have you go into another years-long stasis while your body grows up enough to wield it."

"That, and we still need you to go to the Zoras and get Ruto to awaken her Sage powers," Impa pointed out. "And hopefully bring a Zora army with her…"

Link sighed. "I know. It's just…I'm the only one who ever successfully defeated Ganondorf. I can't do it again; not without the Master Sword…but obtaining it could possibly condemn Hyrule to Sauron's dominion. It's like choosing between which Dark Lord gets to rule Hyrule, in the end."

"The way I see it, we can't afford to worry about Ganondorf right now," Darunia said. "Sauron is the more pressing threat here. Unlike Ganondorf, Sauron already has an army here, one that alone outnumbers all of our respective peoples' warriors put together."

Zelda sighed in resignation. "You're right. Sauron is our main concern at this time. And regardless, we still need to awaken and gather all the Sages."

Link nodded. "I understand, Zelda. Tomorrow I'll head out for Zora's Domain."

Zelda nodded. "Thank you, Link."

"I will ready the rest of our people for war," Darunia vowed.

"I will go to Kakariko Village and spread word of the draft there," Impa proclaimed. "After which I'll ride to Kokiri Forest and bring the Kokiri and Gerudo here to aid us."

Zelda then looked at Link once more. "And Link…?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"…Be careful."

Link fought back a blush, and Darunia chuckled as he clapped Link on the back. "She's sweet on ya, kid!"

The strength of this gesture, however, ended up smashing Link's forehead against the surface of the table, knocking him clean out. A bead of sweat ran down everyone's forehead as Darunia sheepishly muttered, "Uh…perhaps I overdid it."

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Bloody hell, I'm on a roll with this.

Anyways, next time, questions will be asked: despite knowing his fate, is Ganondorf still walking the path to darkness? Or is the Gerudo King wilier than that? And what exactly does the Witch-king have planned now that a beast of Shadow and Flame has entered the fray? And when will the author shut up and get the next chapter out?

Stand by!