Ch. 8
Etota and Pellopa held a steady pace toward the Temple of Time. The morning was crisp and chilly. Not many birds sang in the trees; the underbrush did not rustle with animals. "Hyrule is falling ill." Zelda whispered sadly, looking around anxiously. She was being extra wary; they had confronted a group of moblins not too long ago. Fortunately, all were killed so they could not report back to Ganon.
Haeda didn't bother looking up; he had been staring at the back of Etota's neck. He felt weighed down by something. It's the evil pouring into the land. He thought sourly. Just then, Etota's hoof clacked on stone. He looked ahead, and saw that there was more crumbling stone. It surrounded a massive, beautiful building carved from the same material. They had reached the temple!
Zelda smiled, but her face quickly turned to horror. "There's a black stallion tethered to a pillar!" she gasped in a hushed tone, bringing Pellopa to a halt.
Haeda immediately had Etota stop in her tracks. Sure enough, there it was. A massive black horse was pawing at the stone and tossing its mane. Its eyes were completely red; there was neither iris nor pupil. "Ganon's here!"
They jumped off of their mounts and dashed inside. The hall was empty and silent; but the door to the sacred inner chamber was blasted open by dark magic. "How dare he stain these stones?" Zelda murmured.
They stared at the defiled door as they ran past, but as soon as they were inside the inner chamber they stopped short in there tracks, horrified. Ganon was just stepping up to the Master Sword's pedestal to pull it out and claim it as his own.
Haeda cried out in anger and pulled out his bow. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and released it in one fluid motion. The arrow whizzed through the air and embedded itself in Ganon's armor-clad shoulder. The evil man simply reached for the arrow and pulled it out, laughing at the futile attempt to disable him.
He turned to the teens in the doorway, pulling out his terrible sword. "Yes, that hurt so much. Allow me to return the favor." He growled.
At that, Haeda fired another arrow into Ganon's chest. Seeing that arrows wouldn't do much good, he quickly put them away and unsheathed his sword – just barely fast enough to block his opponent's charging attack. With each stroke Ganon made, Haeda struggled to hold him back. He leaned forward and tried to push Ganon away, but that only resulted in his feet slowly sliding backward. Just then, Zelda fired a ball of sizzling magic from the side, parting the two and distracting Ganon for a moment. Haeda tried to dig deep into the man's abdomen, but Ganon merely jumped back. At the same time, he made a swiping movement at Zelda with his open palm. An unseen force sent her flying to the side, causing her to crash into a wall. She slumped unconscious to the cool floor.
When Ganon's smug smirk was fixed upon her for a few fleeting moments, Haeda tried to attack him again, screaming. His sword reached its mark, but only glanced off of Ganon's protected armor. There was, however, a hair-thin scratch left on the breastplate. Haeda received a kick in the ribs and was sent sprawling to the floor. He painfully tried to breath, but the oxygen wouldn't come to his lungs.
Ganon laughed at the piteous pair and turned, placing both of his massive hands around the hilt of the Master Sword. He growled as he tried to pull it out, but the sword would not let him. Instead, a strange blast of dark aura threw him backward, knocking over a pillar. It crumbled to shards around him as he fell to the floor, temporarily dazed.
Haeda couldn't believe the darkness that had flashed from the sword. He finally regained his breath, and scrambled to get up. He was thrown off balance as a threatening rumble shook the temple. A sickening realization came to the boy. Ganon had been knocked through a support pillar! The Temple of Time was collapsing! He saw with horror that a huge crack had snaked across the high ceiling from the last shake. There was a rumble and a sharp crack as a large slab of stone broke off and fell crashing to the floor. Shattered fragments flew everywhere and Haeda had to shield his eyes.
He made a mad dash to the Master Sword's pedestal. A light seemed to gleam about it. The boy was temporarily transfixed, but was brought back to reality by another bone-rattling shake. He could hear boulders and slabs falling everywhere in the temple now. He didn't have any more time! He planted both hands on the hilt, and pulled! The sword came out with a blinding flash of light, and everything seemed to run in slow motion for a few moments. Debris was slowly falling to the floor. The rumbling became a slow drone in the strange phenomena, and light poured from the sword and the empty pedestal. It was mesmerizing. Then suddenly, all returned to normal speed and another crack snaked down one wall. A beautiful pillar crumbled and toppled down. Haeda gasped as a baldric materialized on his person, and he quickly sheathed the Sword in it.
He dashed over to Zelda, for a rock had fallen dangerously close to her. He lifted her up and ran as fast as he could out of the temple. He could barely keep from being smashed by falling stone and debris. A tear slid down his cheek as he thought about that beautiful building. All that beautiful architecture – something that has lasted for centuries – is falling to the ground in dust. The Temple of Time is gone! He tumbled onto the ridge surrounding the temple and got down on his knees to lay Zelda down.
She woke up with a start in his arms as a deafening rumble announced the temple's death. She cried in shock and loss as the intricate stone became rubble, forever lost to the ages. Haeda carefully sat her down in the grass and tried to comfort her, and the two huddled there for a few minutes. When tears were finally wiped away and sniffles gradually disappeared, Zelda finally whispered, "He's gone. Ganon was in the temple when it fell. He's gone isn't he?" She asked almost desperately, staring at the rubble. Nothing moved except for the settling cloud of dust and dirt.
Haeda followed her gaze. "I don't know," He said after a pause. They both watched, eyes wide and alert, waiting for Ganon to spring up and attack. Nothing happened. The only sound was Ganon's black horse, which had torn itself free of the tether and was dashing madly away into the distance, out of site.