A.N.: Longest chapter I've written so far. Well, this chapter deserved it :)

Chapter 18: The Opal Dragon

It was exactly like before; Link and Vaati stood before the throne of Hyrule Castle with Ganondorf gazing at them from above the stairs, a sneer on his dark face, and Princess Zelda was still trapped within the prism in a corner of the chamber. This time, however, the possessed girl was missing, and in her place was a scaly behemoth twice as large as the Twilit Dragon Argorok they had battled at the City in the Sky. Its monstrous head waved slowly from side to side as its possessed amber eyes warily strafed its master for orders. The thick chains around its neck and claws rattled with each movement, and they glowed with some magical reinforcement that kept it bound to the castle floor.

Another dragon. Wonderful, Vaati thought as the monster let out a vicious hiss. The mage caught Link stuttering in surprise at the sight of the scaled beast.

"That's Opal," the boy whispered, remembering the girl's story about how she had once been sealed by the Four Sword along with other monsters in Hyrule.

Now it was Vaati's turn to be surprised. "What?!"

They were interrupted by a malicious laugh, and they turned their heads to the King of Darkness who had begun to transform into his boar-like form. "You pitiful fools, you were late. But now that you're here, let's not waste any more time. I will finish what was supposed to happen before that idiot lizard flooded Hyrule."

Link unsheathed the Master Sword as Ganondorf completed his transformation. He glanced at Vaati who was still defenseless. "Vaati, what are you doing?"

The mage clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists together. "I'm never going to use the Wind Waker."

"Don't be stupid! Now's not the time, and why are you suddenly afraid to use it?"

"I'm not afraid," Vaati seethed. "I'm just…I'm just not a damned her –"

Wham!

Vaati couldn't finish his sentence as Ganon sent him flying across the chamber with surprising speed. Even Link stumbled a bit in shock that such a large being could move so quickly.

"Gahaha! Vaati, you're the dirt of your kind. Stay out of my way and I'll let you live a little longer."

"Vaati!" Link barely blocked a swipe from Ganon with his shield. His eyes darted to where the mage had been knocked towards and saw a dazed Vaati trying to stand up. It was a bad idea to move his eyes away from Ganon, for Link had his feet knocked from under him.

"Link, today you die for good," Ganon roared and a blast of magic was sent towards the fallen hero. Link rolled out of its way, but felt stone cut the side of his face as the blast caused the floor to explode in bits.

"Vaati! You have to use the Wind Waker!" Link yelled. He couldn't attack Ganon because he was too busy trying not to get himself killed. Link could see the mage hesitate; he couldn't understand why the sorcerer, who used to be ecstatic about the abilities of the Wind Waker, was disgusted about using it ever since he had returned from Valoo's mission.

"All right," Vaati finally snarled, not sounding too happy. He grabbed the baton and brought it up in front of him. There was another smash as Ganon slammed the floor where Link had been, and the Hero of Time scrambled away while wiping away the blood that had begun to drip across his face. Vaati heard Link saying something to him, but he was more focused on the unresponsive Wind Waker he held in his hand. Din's fire, Vaati cursed. He looked around before dropping his hands back down.

"I need your help!" Link said urgently. Vaati merely shook his head.

"We're indoors. I can't do anything." The mage's face was expressionless as he said his next words. "You're on your own."

Link gulped as he raced around to avoid the rampaging Ganon. He slid to a stop as he found himself cornered between the possessed dragon and the King of Darkness. Link slowly turned around as the interior of the throne room basked in an eerie blue light from Ganon's charged energy ball. Ganon grinned, sure of a victory.

I've got one chance, Link thought as he brought the Master Sword in front of him. He tried to remember the feeling of reflecting Ganon's attack just like the first time he had encountered him, back when he had been at the Palace of Winds with the Four Sword. He hoped he would be able to repeat what he had done.

"Grraaaah!" Ganon sent a fully charged energy sphere towards the waiting hero. Link dug his heel into the floor and swung the sword as hard as he could. For a second, Link thought he had failed when he felt a tingling sensation along his hands from the attack's energy, but the sphere somehow rebounded and hit the dark king square in the chest.

Panting, Link tilted his head to where Vaati had been. "Careful, I don't think he's dead yet." He was surprised when he saw Vaati had gone, but had no time to look for him as a figure stood up from the floor where the boar had lain. A Gerudo man took a step towards him, armed with a sword that was almost as tall as he was. Ganondorf grinned and brought his sword in a fighting stance, his hooked nose pointed downwards and his eyes narrowed upwards.

"Good. I would have been disappointed if you weren't capable of pulling that off. Now I challenge you to a battle with steel. No magic, no tricks: just man to man."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati heard the clash of metal as Link and Ganondorf began their duel. Vaati knew he was near completely useless as he was no better than a weak mortal without the help of the winds. He made his way towards the obsidian dragon that had its jaws in a snarl and was watching the battle between Link and its master.

"Are you Opal?" Vaati asked.

The dragon swung its head towards the mage and gave a guttural growl. The steel chains grated along the floor as it shifted its weight.

"You can free yourself from Ganondorf. He's distracted from fighting Link; you just have to focus."

There was a jet of flame and Vaati just got by with the corner of his cape being singed off. Part of the wall crumbled down as the dragon violently snapped its neck towards the sorcerer in an attempt to crush him in its jaws, the chains yanking the foundations of the castle. Vaati's eyes narrowed, and he took a small step towards the beast's snout as it continued to growl.

"Come on. Back off, and snap out of it."

"Grrrrowlllllhsssssss."

Vaati had some experience with possessed people before, and he knew how difficult it was to get them to regain control of themselves. He also knew that one distraction was all it took for the possessed to be free. His eyes moved toward Ganondorf who was fighting Link, and then towards the magical chains that bound Opal in place. Vaati had a hunch that the magic on the chains was also there to strengthen Ganondorf's hold on the dragon.

"Stay still. I'm going to get these off of you. I know you're possessed, but you can still do that much, I hope?" Vaati hadn't expected much, so he wasn't surprised when the dragon snarled and bared its fangs at him. Ganondorf had done a good job taking control of Opal.

In the distance, the King of Darkness narrowly blocked the Master Sword. He quickly regained his stance before he began to push against Link once more, causing the boy to go defensive. It was during this short interval where Ganondorf had lost footing that the dragon suddenly stopped snarling. It arched its neck and gave Vaati some room. The mage smirked.

See? One distraction, that's all it takes. Still, Vaati didn't want to take chances so he was careful when he approached the first enormous claw that was chained. He wasn't sure how he was going to get rid of the magic on the steel, but he got an idea when he felt a weak magical energy jumping from the chains to the Wind Waker. The baton couldn't work by itself inside the castle, but because it was a magical object, it had some influence over other magical objects. He rolled up his sleeves and began to concentrate on a spell. The blue runes of his binding curse faintly spiraled around his arms, and though he was afraid his idea might not work, he sighed inwardly in relief when he saw he was able to begin unraveling the spell on the chains. Progress was slow, however, and he hoped Link would be able to hold out against Ganondorf in the meanwhile.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link felt himself slowly being drained of his stamina, and sweat and blood dripped profusely down his chin. Ganondorf was an expert swordsman, and Link was at a disadvantage because of his shorter reach and weaker arms. He needed to think of something unexpected because he knew he probably wouldn't be able to win in a fair fight.

Ganondorf was taking his time, and Link could tell that the Gerudo wasn't using his full potential yet. The man wanted a fight of endurance, and Link didn't want to give him that. The Hero of Time parried, sidestepped, and moved behind a fallen statue to gain a few seconds respite. He saw Vaati in intense concentration by the scaly beast and wondered what idea the sorcerer had thought of. Suddenly, Vaati stood up and wiped his brow with his sleeve; the dragon roared soon after, the deafening noise reverberating along the castle walls.

Ganondorf momentarily lost focus on the fight with Link as the dragon continued to rage, and Link took this time to ready a bomb and lunge at him with his sword. The King of Darkness blocked Link's strike as expected, so Link back flipped and threw the explosive at Ganondorf's head. He cursed when he saw the dark man casually bat the bomb away where it blew up across the room. The Hero of Time couldn't dodge Ganondorf's sword and he felt his wrist wrenched to the side, the Master Sword spinning out of his grip. Link rolled away from the sword that came whizzing down next to him and scurried away from the now laughing Gerudo. He saw to his dismay that Ganondorf was between him and his sword, and the only person he could rely on was Vaati.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati took a deep breath as he removed the magical binds on the second chain, leaving only one more left. After he had gotten rid of the first one, the next one was fairly easy to disable. Now all he had to do was remove the spell on the chains around the beast's neck.

"Vaati! The sword!"

The mage swiftly turned around as the Master Sword stopped spinning before his feet, and he noticed Link cornered against a marble pillar by Ganondorf without his weapon. Link was pleading with his eyes for the mage to pass him the sword.

Vaati gritted his teeth. "I can't touch it, fool, do you know what it would do to me?"

"The sword, Vaati! I can't fight without it!"

The sorcerer turned his back to Link. He of all people wouldn't be able to touch the Blade of Evil's Bane. It would probably knock him unconscious as soon as his fingers gripped the hilt.

Ganondorf had now made it to Link and had grabbed the boy by the neck so he was hovering several feet in the air. The Gerudo was saying something to him in glee.

"Vaati…" Link rasped.

The mage's expression darkened, and after a few seconds of debating, Vaati reached out and snatched the Master Sword from the ground. He flinched when he touched it as he expected something to smite him down. Nothing came. "No," he breathed in shock. There was a gurgling sound as Ganondorf began to slowly choke Link to death, and Vaati was forced to put aside thinking about the implications for another time. He dashed towards the Gerudo from behind and slashed the man across the back as hard as he could.

"AAargh!" Ganondorf let go of Link and the boy fell to the floor gasping for breath. Vaati grinned triumphantly and was about to say something arrogant when the dark man began to laugh maniacally. Pain shot up his skull as Ganondorf landed a powerful punch and Vaati crashed against Link. The two battered figures struggled to get up off the floor while the King of Darkness took a threatening step forward.

"You little pests. I find it hard to believe you two were able to land a strike, so I congratulate you for that. But isn't it obvious how outmatched you are? Look at you, broken and bleeding; you can't even stand up." Another step, and Ganondorf brought his sword up. Link was still gasping and holding his throat, and Vaati was trying not to black out from the previous hit across his head. "Hmph. Goodbye, Link, Vaati, you won't be missed."

"Ggrrrroaaaaaar!"

"Wh-?!"

Vaati felt himself blown off of his feet as a thick, heavy tail smashed the floor between him and Ganondorf. A silly thought about how he had been tossed around the castle like a sack of potatoes popped up in the sorcerer's mind as he went sprawling across the floor for the umpteenth time. He looked up uneasily, and then snickered when he saw the dragon had finally freed itself from the chains that had kept it immobile, and he laughed even more when he noticed the eyes had returned to their normal color instead of the lifeless yellow. The dragon had become free when the Master Sword had struck the dark king. "Haha, Ganondorf, looks like you finally lost concentration for your possessing spell."

"Silence," Ganondorf hissed. The scaly beast reared its neck and roared as its eyes flickered fleetingly back from yellow to blue. Then it bared its fangs at the Gerudo, and its eyes finally became a brilliant blue that seemed to shift colors like the stone it was named after. Vaati and Link backed away as the dragon snarled and the surroundings rippled violently around Ganondorf. "What is this?" the king demanded.

The Opal Dragon roared again and a great stone slab materialized behind the King of Darkness. Ganondorf then found himself chained down to the stone by glowing white chains, and saw three white blades with the insignia of the Triforce pointing at him. They were swords crafted by the holy sages that the dragon had conjured from the past.

Link thought he would have nightmares from the look Ganondorf gave the beast. "Damn you…" he hissed his last words.

The blades jerked and impaled the evil king, killing him. A portal opened to a dark world where the stone and the king were sent. Vaati recognized it as the Sacred Realm – he had been there often enough that he recognized it when he saw it.

Time seemed to stop, and Vaati and Link both held their breaths until they were sure the evil king wasn't going to reappear and kill them all with a single blow. All the tension in the room was released after Ganondorf disappeared for what the two hoped was for good. Link tried to give a feeble thumbs up at his friends, but seeing Vaati with his back turned to him and the dragon's face still contorted in a vicious snarl, he decided he would just give himself a thumbs up. The Hero of Time found it difficult to accept the fact that they were finally done with their adventure, forever.

"So…we get to go home now?" Vaati heard labored breathing as Link asked timidly. The mage rolled his eyes, but he was grinning despite himself. Vaati huffed, shook a thumb towards the dragon, and shrugged. Link smiled, nodded, and made his way towards the dragon.

Neither of them expected the claw that sent Link colliding into the wall.

"Link!" Vaati exclaimed. He was cut short by a jet of flame that issued from the huge, fanged jaws. "What in Farore's name…"

"Rooooaar!" the dragon exploded in wrath and unfurled its wings as it prepared to take to the sky. Vaati ducked as the leathery wings hit the castle walls and caused debris to begin falling. He made his way over to Link and tried to steady him.

"Link, can you stand?"

"Uh, I think so, what happened?"

"You were knocked back by Opal."

"I don't understand. I thought she wouldn't be possessed anymore."

The dragon leaped upwards and crashed through the ceiling. The castle shook, and Vaati began to pull Link towards the exit. "Come on. We have to follow it or we're never getting back."

"Wait, what about Zelda?" Link stopped Vaati.

"There's no time. We can't lose sight of Opal."

"I'm not leaving without Zelda," Link said stubbornly.

Vaati took Link firmly by the shoulders. "Listen, Link. If we leave Zelda behind, you'll still be able to see her again when we return to the right time period. If we leave Opal behind, we'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives. I'm not going to be stuck with you like this because you felt too heroic to let the princess go."

Link looked longingly at the princess. "All right," he whispered, "promise I'll see her again."

Vaati yanked Link forcefully and began to run. "I promise nothing. Now hurry before we lose the dragon."

OXXXXXXO

A.N.: It's not over yet everyone! And if you want to torture yourself by reading my deviantart journal post, go right ahead. If you're the impatient type, don't do it or you'll be hitting yourself over the head, like me :P

Diablo1123: shrug

Reily96: That's what's gonna happen! XD

H-bomber: Not quite the final ;)

Rune Caster: Yay! I like him too :)

bleu-blizzard: Nope. This story goes on for a bit more.

Evil Riggs: Thanks for reading this far!

Peka the Corsair: Rest your fears, this ain't over yet.