A/N: This is the first part in a 2part battle. And I said battle. You know, where people die. I don't want to get any flames or hatemail because people can't grasp the idea that battles necessarily entail violence and possibly disturbing content. That said, I don't think this deserves (or will) an "M" rating. Just a little heads up.

Disclaimer: I don't own Nintendo. Mostly because I don't. But it might be because I don't. The only thing I own are my OCs: Vulpumbra and Nexaserma.

Chapter 7

Nexaserma

I strode along, surrounded by horrible, cursed, blights to nature, half-dead creatures of pure evil, and whistled a brisk Gerudo battle song. The smallest part of me wondered how exactly I had managed to reanimate such a large army of skeletal monsters. I had numerous Stalchilds, several Stalhounds, a crowd of Stalkin, and a large horde of Stalfos warriors. The slightly larger part of me knew that while I could summon a few Stalchilds, binding malevolent Poes to my will was above me. But there they were, floating above me. These Poes seemed to be very malicious and wanted nothing better then to kill the living, but I seemed to have complete control over them. But the largest part of my clearly messed up mind was very happy. I almost had the Fire Key! And from there it would be a simple matter to kill the Hero and his Princess to claim the other two Keys. It really was a pity the Sheikah would have to die, I didn't want to kill him, but he would insist on obeying and protecting his stupid princess until Death found him. If he was going to be fighting me, I wasn't about to go easy on him. Nothing and nobody would stand between true Power and me. And it was so close too… So very close…

Link

"By Farore! Vulp! That is a lot of monsters! Goddess Farore, help us make it out of this alive!" I could not but help the exclamation. I hadn't seen this many monsters in one place. It could be worse, she could have somehow managed to resurrect one of the bosses Ganondorf made to stop me.

Behind me I heard Vulpumbra laugh, he seemed almost eager to fight to his death. When I asked him about it he just gave me a small smile.

"I have made my peace with the Goddesses, I am ready to die and will not shirk it. Besides, for someone who does not care about death, this is the perfect opportunity to see just who I really am. There is the volcano, now we shall know the real Vulpumbra."

He was right, we were going to die, why not go in peace? Fight the good fight until the very end. I picked an arrow from my quiver and nocked it to the string of my bow.

Vulpumbra

A wordless shout of the necromanceress', a surging forward of her unholy horde. The answering battle cries from the Hero and I. Link stood back, firing magical arrows into the enemies' ranks. I drew my swords and stood in the narrow path defying the charging forces to approach. Several Stalhounds sprinted forward, their mouths open and eyeless skulls staring in cruel mockery of living dogs. I heard the sounds of the Gorons above gripping large boulders. Throwing myself high into the air I shouted,

"Now!"

A miniature avalanche roared down, crushing the exposed bones of our foes into dust. As I neatly landed, a Stalfos warrior appeared in front of me. He held up his sword in the salute of the ancient knights of the north, his armor and shield speaking that theirs was but a shadow of former glory. He swung his great sword in a sweeping, horizontal arc. Rather then try to block or parry his strike I jumped into the air again. I landed neatly on top of his blade and jumped toward his bleached skull. Crushing it neatly beneath my heel, I rode the falling body to the ground and immediately was engaged by several long dead warriors of a forgotten time. Several times I caught a brief glimpse of Link. The enemy had gotten too close for bowshot; he had drawn the Master Sword and set to work cleaving skulls and bones.

The magical weapon could do far more damage than my regular blades; but Link, burdened down by all of his equipment, moved rather slowly and couldn't dodge the enemies' attacks. He did seem to have an incredible endurance, something that he had most likely honed surviving the Dark King's power.

A pack of angry Stalhounds confronted me, teeth permanently bared in a feral snarl. They started to fan out, to surround me. I went right for the pack leader, kicking his skull clean off. I promptly spun around and swept aside the one that went for my throat. A minute later I had battled free of them and stumbled into yet another Stalfos.

This Stalfos wasn't wearing any rusty armor; it was just equipped with a small but sturdy rapier and a stout round shield. I stepped back and seized up my opponent, the skeleton and gear must have once belonged to a master swordsman. The evil, twisted spirit held them with sure confidence and aptitude. I grinned and flashed my twin sabers back and forth.

"Finally, a challenge worthy of my prowess." I taunted. "Come on then, you relic of a dead and buried age! Come and face the skill of the Sheikah!"

Thus began one of the most beautiful sword fights in the history of Hyrule. I knew for a fact this Stalfos was once a legendary swordmaster, it retained much of its ability and proved to be a fair match for me. But of course I was better. He thrust his sword toward my breast, I promptly riposted, twisting a sword around and down the length of its rapier. I edged it away from me and attempted to strike the Stalfos; it just brought up its shield to block. Back and forth we attacked, blocked, slashed, parried, and used near every trick we knew. We battled each other into a stalemate in the course of half and hour. Backing off I kept my guard up and laughed.

"You are good. And you were better when you were still alive. But you still have to learn a lesson about the Sheikah's might, and mine. I am Vulpumbra, the Shadow Fox! Son of Impa, the Shadow Lady! The daughter of the son of Sheik, last great King of the Sheikah! And I am the best there is or ever was!" I roared at the top of my lungs.

I dashed back toward the Stalfos, throwing myself past the scything rapier. I swiftly slashed out with my blades, simultaneously cutting off both of its hands. I kicked out, breaking its leg, ands knocked it down. I stood over the fallen Stalfos and nodded it a warrior's salute as I crushed its skull.

There was a lull; most of the enemies were destroyed. I gathered my breath and gave my noble foe a last grin before I looked around for Link.

I caught sight of him in a few seconds, a group of Poes had surrounded him, and he couldn't swing his sword before one hit him. He was getting pretty badly beaten up…

"Vulp! A little help here!"

Ok, just a crowd of Stalchilds between us. Easy. I dashed through them, bowling many over in my haste to reach the Hero's side. As I ran, I threw several needles and knives towards the Poes, trying to get them to back off. I successfully slew around half.

But an uninjured one hit Link with its lantern, sending him flying backwards. Link started to push himself up, but than a shadow appeared over him. I leapt toward the Stalfos standing over the Hero, but I was moving too slowly. Everything was moving slowly. Link tried to raise his shield, to block the attack, but to no avail. The ancient sword of the ancient warrior slowly sliced across the space between them, like it was moving through Chu jelly. I watched in horror, powerless to stop it, I could still feel myself in midair, but I was out of projectiles. The Stalfos' archaic blade finished its stroke and cleaved skull and brain. My path towards the Stalfos was arrested by a collision with another Poe; it knocked me to the ground, where I stared at my fallen comrade.

"Farore guide you safely, my friend. I'll join you in the Hall of Warriors shortly."

Link, the Hero of Time, was dead.