Sneaking through passages and creeping past guards, Zelda and I finally arrived at the front of the Castle. I was so paranoid, killing anything I saw on sight. Zelda seemed slightly perturbed by this, but I couldn't care less at that point. I was seeing red, and Ganondorf and Ren would pay. I had rescued Zelda, and I would rescue Relena.

My new chain mail was quite light, yet I still found moving to be more difficult compared to my lightweight Gerudo clothes. I supposed I just had to get used to them. In time, I was sure that they would become like a second skin. We had yet to run into Nabs, Impa, or any of the others, and I was worried for them. If Ganondorf knew that I was here, then wouldn't he know that the others were here as well? Now was not the time for questions.

At this point, I wasn't even completely in control of my mind. All I could think of was how I would end Ganondorf and Ren. We made it to where the throne room was, and no one was there, oddly enough – no one, not even Zelda and Sheik's father, the king. We all found that to be very weird, especially Zelda and Sheik. They stated that their father rarely left his throne – for anything.

A sound was heard from behind me, and I whipped around instantly. My heart sunk as soon as I saw a Gerudo wielding two twin scimitars. Her brows were drawn, and she glared at me, "Fancy meeting you here, 'Prince' Link, huh? You're just a traitor." Without another word, she charged at me. Other Gerudo followed her, and I could only assume they were a part of her team.

I quickly blocked an attack with my sword, gripping it with both hands tightly. Zelda was quickly on the alert; her hands were pressed together, working on some magic spell. Sheik continued to lend me some of his strength before slipping out of my shadow, on the defensive with an endless supply of Deku nuts, grenades, and needles.

Rota spoke, "Link – There's one behind you!"

I whipped around, sword meeting scimitar. Blades locked, our eyes met, fighting a battle of their own, and I realized that I knew her – I wasn't sure what her name was, but I knew her and remembered seeing her around when I was back home. What felt like ages ago, I would have most likely felt sorry for her – But not now. I was fighting this battle to win not lose. I was in this to win and do nothing else.

Sparks flew, and she moved her blade away quickly; I stumbled forward slightly because of all the force I had been applying but recovered speedily, taking another swipe at her. I couldn't run out of stamina now; I had to save all my energy for my battle with Ganondorf. Unable to stare into her amber eyes anymore, I brought the tip of my sword to her throat, cutting off her life. She made a choking, gurgling sound, and her eyes widened with shock.

Stabbing guilt pierced me, but I brushed it off, moving on to the next Gerudo. From my peripheral vision, I could see Zelda using her magic to manipulate a Gerudo's limbs. Sheik was using his various weapons to kill as well; Rota was nowhere to be seen. I found myself killing without thought, callous, cold, and distant. I really didn't care about these people. They didn't care about me or Zelda when Ganondorf and Ren were hurting us. They hated us enough to pursue us to the Castle.

We had to make our way to the main door – our exit out of the throne room and into the Castle courtyard – our ticket to freedom. But it looked too big; how were we going to open it? The Gerudo I was currently fighting kept looking up somewhere, again and again. I focused on trying to to end her then looked up to where she had been looking before I ended her.

I spotted several Sheikah eyes near the top; it was a long shot, but I supposed that it was worth a try. Sheathing my sword and switching to the bow on my back, I took aim and released a flurry of arrows in rapid succession. Zelda seemed to catch onto what I was doing and defended my back with her magic.

Somehow, I couldn't do it; something was stopping me from accomplishing my goal, and I began panicking slightly. Noticing my fear, Zelda snatched the bow from my hands and took my quiver from my back. "Cover me!" she yelled above the din.

Nodding in response, I unsheathed my sword, throwing myself into the battle easily with two Gerudo females fighting tooth and claw. They seemed set on stopping us from escaping, paying careful attention to the door. Those eyes had to be the key.

Taking aim, Zelda hit one of the eyes easily, but there was another Gerudo blocking her next line of fire. "Link, I can't get a direct shot!" Her hands were trembling, and her voice shook. "I've shot two so far."

There were three Sheikah eyes so there was only one more to go. She just needed to shoot one more. She pulled the bowstring back and released her arrow, but it missed. I heard her exhale sharply as her brow furrowed even more. Checking her quiver, I could see that she only had five more arrows left. She had to make this count.

Reloading, she adjusted her stance and shot at the last Sheikah eye. Nothing happened. There was a slight glow, but things remained the same, and the door didn't open. The Gerudo eyed us smugly as we fought, knowing they had the upper hand until we could open that door.

"Zel – Everything's timed!" Sheik shouted to her from across the throne room. He was dealing with two Gerudo wielding long sabers. "You have to move quickly!"

Panicking, Zelda reloaded her bow and shot her arrows, reloading faster than I'd ever thought possible. I couldn't watch her and defend her simultaneously so I was forced to tear my eyes away from her. There were too many Gerudo. They were ganging up on the three of us, Sheik and I having to take the brunt of the work with Zelda trying to solve the puzzle.

Before my very eyes, people were slain and killed by my very sword; the bile rose in my throat, but I quickly forced it back down while blood was spilled by my hands. I couldn't see my Zelda or the outcome of her endeavor. My fear caused me to become sloppy, and my blows weren't as well-timed as before. One of the Gerudo got in a lucky swipe, and my bloody cheek proved my failure. That blow was my wake up call, and my strength was renewed.

"Link!" Zelda exclaimed. Her quiver was empty, and the door still hadn't opened. Her eyes were scared, and she had no weapon to defend herself, with the exception of her magic. I didn't want her to drain her power, though. I could foresee a large battle rapidly approaching so she needed to conserve her strength.

Slashing through the Gerudo to get to Zelda, I tried to think up a way to escape this prison. The throne room was two floors high, and my answer came in the form of an arrow whizzing past me slightly, embedding itself in the arm of a Gerudo next to me who had inadvertently acted as a shield for me. Her weapon fell to the floor, and she seethed, grinding her teeth together in frustration and anger.

An arrow – My eyes immediately flew up to where an archeress was loading another. Zelda caught my eye quickly, and I knew she was thinking exactly what I was thinking. Using Din's Fire, Zelda was able to blaze a trail for us to run through, all the way up to where that archer was firing her arrows upon a ledge above the throne. Giving Zelda a quick nod, I found my clawshot in my belt and was able to haul myself two stories up.

The archeress, however, was prepared for me and my attack. She had already drawn a sword in order to try to defeat me and knock me down. Her quiver wasn't located on her person, her bow lying to the side, abandoned. I had to somehow get that quiver to where Zelda was; brain running a million miles an hour, I drew my sword, momentarily sheathed for my trip up.

"You're a traitor," she hissed at me. I wondered briefly who she was; did I know her personally? Either way, she had launched an arrow at me and drawn a sword on me; there was no chance of mercy for her now.

Raising a brow, I spoke, "Oh, am I? Well, I sure hope that I can do that title justice."

Without another word uttered, our swords met in the center. The ledge was small, and I was already feeling worried that I would fall to my death twenty feet. Because of our tight space, my chances of knocking that quiver down were high – my chances of dying were also high.

Not hesitating even a bit, I lashed out, knowing that I was more of a skilled swordsman than she. She was obviously more skilled at her archery, but it wasn't helping her here.

"Just go ahead and take your sweet time, Link," Rota grumbled sarcastically via our telepathic link. A light was flying around our feet, from behind my adversary. She was tugging at the quiver, heavy in comparison to her weight.

Thankfully, the Gerudo hadn't caught on just yet to what I was trying to accomplish. She merely growled and snarled at me, not even bothering to actually speak to me. It was fine by me, though; the moment I humanized her was the moment I felt sorry for her, and I didn't have time for that now. I had to get Zelda out of here. We rotated positions, and now I was standing near Rota and the quiver. Shooting a foot out behind me, I kicked at the quiver blindly.

"LINK!" Rota squealed in my mind, protesting. The quiver fell, and I hoped the arrows wouldn't scatter too much on the ground.

The Gerudo's eyes then widened as she realized her blunder; then she not only recovered – she retaliated. Her sword clanged into mine, and she somehow found a way to begin pushing me toward the edge. I tried to stop her; I tried to regain my balance, but she persisted and ended up shoving me off.

I was falling.

Time seemed to slow as a flash of light engulfed me. Then, I could see Zelda below me, her eyes wide as she retrieved her arrows, quiver on her back and bow in hand. I could see Sheik not too far from there as well; he disappeared, leaving his opponents. I could sense him nearby as he entered my shadow right then. Rota flew worriedly around Zelda.

My left hand glowed brightly. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, safe and sound. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I felt like retching. Everyone stood staring at me, no doubt wondering why I was still alive. My Triforce never stopped glowing warmly.

Zelda recovered first – and quickly. Those three arrows sailed through the air, whistling cheerily as they made their marks on those three Sheikah eyes. The huge doors opened slowly, revealing the Castle courtyard to us. With Sheik in my shadow, I raced ahead to where Zelda was, grabbing her hand and running straight for freedom.

Stuck in a trance after my ethereal experience, the Gerudo pursued us after a moment's hesitation, giving us just the right amount of time we needed to escape. Once in the courtyard, Zelda whipped her head around, making sure I was right behind her.

"I'll go let the gang know that we've got Zelda, but we're headed for trouble," Rota zoomed away as quickly as her tiny wings would let her.

Sheik slipped out of my shadow. "Should I follow her?"

I had only a few seconds to nod before we were forced to continue running from the Castle out into Hyrule Field. The Gerudo were set on destroying me, the traitor, and Zelda, the accomplice. My boots pounded into the dirt, and even though I wore a new outfit with more pieces to it, I felt light-footed while fleeing. I supposed I had gotten used to it.

In the distance, I could see several small dots on the horizon but chose to think nothing of it. As the dots grew closer and closer, however, a sickening feeling flooded my stomach.

In front of me were Ren and his band of women; behind me were Ganondorf and the Gerudo from the Castle. Ren held Relena by the arm, dragging her, and had hold of Crimson's mate. Ganondorf, on the other hand, had captured who could only be the king, Katrin, and Arvid, Zelda's relations. They were far too finely dressed to be anything but royalty, even though they looked disheveled and hurt. Instead of crying out in despair at the sight of her family, Zelda cast Ganondorf an icy, stony glare, not even bothering to look at her poor excuse of relatives.

The purple Loftwing squawked noisily, and I felt my spirits sink. I had failed Crimson. I hadn't rescued his mate. Sheik was quivering within my magical core, and even I could feel his burning anger. It began affecting me as well, and my rage grew tenfold.

Things were tense in those few moments as I tried to gather my wits; I threw Zelda behind me, facing Ganondorf and choosing the less of two evils. I'd rather face Ganondorf who was much more powerful than Ren, in my opinion. "Sorry, Sheik, but I think we're going to need some help," I stated quickly.

Without protest, Sheik made his way from my life core to my shadow and then out. Taking Zelda's arm, he made his way to his family, scoffing at them. He made sure his weapon was in place as he went, and time seemed to freeze because no one was willing to make the first move.

Apparently what Sheik was doing was considered the first move because after that everyone began attacking. Ren refused to let the Loftwing out of his sight, falling to the back of his group of Gerudo and never relinquishing his hold on Relena. I had lost Sheik and Zelda in the fray and could only hope they were alright. Right now, I had to free the Loftwing and Relena.

Drawing my sword, I made my way to Ren. He would pay. So would Ganondorf.

Yes, Ganondorf, you should have killed me when you could've.

I MADE IT WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER! Phew – I didn't think I'd be able to finish it because this week I'm volunteering at my church's kid camp so I'm gone from 9AM to 5PM; then, I'm going out of state for a week on vacation so I kinda won't have access to technology. But, this is your chapter. ;) (IT'S SO SHORT)

***BECAUSE I'M RUSHING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THERE ARE MISTAKES!***

"Why didn't Ganondorf kill Link?"... Well, I kinda used this a) to get Link outta there, and b) to show how he let his Triforce corrupt him and that he still has this human side. It's like a battle between his two selves. I'm sure we all know which side is more powerful. :P

So, I hope you enjoyed this; Lindsey Stirling's third album is going to be released in a month so I'm full of inspiration. ^^ (AND MY OTHER FAVORITE ARTIST, LECRAE, IS FEATURED ON IT! \O/) I've tried to respond to everyone's reviews (THOSE WITH AN ACCOUNT)… Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following; you guys are amazing! 3 LOVE! And *smiles* :D

~Elsie {Zelda}

Total Word Count (excluding Author's Notes):

2,500