The army of men continually advanced on Ganondorf's tower. With reinforcements from Malaank, the army had nearly doubled in size. The increased size and skill of the army was proving too much for the creatures guarding the tower. But when they were driven back to nearly 400 yards of the tower, they held fast. As if some unimaginable force was aiding them in their defense of the evil structure behind them. Attack after attack from the Hylians was repelled back, suffering heavy losses.
"Halt! Do not attack!" Nick shouted as loud as he could, hoping that everyone would hear him before they did something foolish.
He heard the message relay itself through the ranks of the men, and all stood still and silent. It was now well into the afternoon and all of the men were exhausted from hours of fighting. But not one of them dared to let their guard down, giving the opposition any advantage at all was the worst thing they could do. The five leaders of the army rode together behind their lines.
"So what do we do now?" Charles asked nervously. "They're not even budging when we attack them."
"Yeah, we need to find out another way around," Aaron suggested. William shook his head.
"I don't see any other way around. We need a new strategy altogether."
Nick sighed. "What we really need is Link and Zelda to come back from where ever they went. Maybe then we could stand a chance of breaking their defense."
"We could also use more men," Aaron interjected. Everyone simply nodded.
"My army from Larosia will be here any minute now, so don't you guys worry," Robert informed them. "As a matter of fact, I think I see them now."
Sure enough, off in the distance to the east, came the Larosian army. Their numbers were great, but Nick still felt that no matter how many men they had, they could never break the defenses of Ganondorf's creatures. His spirits rose, however, when he saw two figures also coming out of the east, but directly from Death Mountain itself.
"Look!" he shouted, "Link and Zelda have come back!" He pointed over in the direction of the Hero and the Princess, and the men from Hyrule cheered as they recognized them.
A shout from the army could be heard, "We are saved! The Hero has returned!"
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Link and Zelda rode as fast as they could toward Hyrule Castle. They were not headed to the front of the battle lines yet. Zelda had a vision during the journey about the Amulets and how to use them. They needed a third person, one strong in Power, but also Wisdom. Without Wisdom, Power would corrupt the soul and turn it into evil, much like Ganondorf. There was only one person they could think of that could carry these traits. Evan.
They rode right past Nick and the others, leaving them stunned and confused. Deciding that what Link was doing was probably what needed to be done, Nick didn't question him. He knew Link would be back. The two riders continued toward the castle as the army from Larosia arrived at the battlefield, ready to attack. The drawbridge was up due to the battle raging in the fields before it. Hyrule Castle Town had been put on full lockdown. No one in, no one out. For the first time in days, the drawbridge was lowered to let in its two most loved inhabitants. Link and Zelda rode hard and fast to the Castle, without even so much as a wave to the cheering pedestrians in the streets.
As they arrived in front of the Castle, Link dismounted and ran as fast as he could up through the castle to Evan's room. Zelda remained where she was, anxious to get back out there and defeat Ganondorf once and for all. Soon, Link came to Evan's room and quickly opened the door, startling the boy. He had been reading about his father and the Imprisoning War that took place ten years ago. Link ran up to his son.
"Come on, Evan. Mommy and Daddy need your help." He grabbed the boy's hand and began to pull him out of his room.
"Yippee! I get to help!" The boy was ecstatic that he would actually have the chance to be a hero, although he knew that his father would do all the hard stuff. They quickly ran down the stairs and out of the castle, Zelda still atop her horse, waiting. Link put Evan on Epona and climbed up behind him. And as quickly as they had arrived, they left.
As they rode back to the front line, the skies opened up with an evil rain. The rain drops pelted down on the riders and the army, but they paid it no heed. Finally, Link, Zelda, and Even stopped and dismounted right where Nick and the others were.
"Link! So glad you're back!" Nick exclaimed. But then he noticed Evan with him and got concerned. "Why did you bring Evan here?"
"Because we need him." His reasoning reminded Nick of his mother's reasoning, Because I said so. But in this case, he wasn't about to argue with it.
Link jumped back on Epona and rode in front of the entire army and turned to face them. "My fellow Hylians and our allies, we will attack this barricade and win the day! I have been told that their defenses now seem to be impenetrable, but I know that you men are strong and capable of toppling them! So raise your swords high and prepare to attack!" He rode back to his friends and dismounted Epona. "We just need to break through and then we can get started on the tower."
"We will fight beside you, Link," Charles stated.
"No, all of you are needed elsewhere. We need you to defend Hyrule."
"But, Link," Aaron began, "Aiding you and Zelda is defending Hyrule. For if you should fall, so would the land. I, for one, cannot let that happen."
"Neither would I. We must make sure you live, Link, so that this great land will continue to prosper," Robert said.
Nick raised his sword in the air. "For Hyrule!"
"For Hyrule!" they all responded, swords pointing toward the sky.
"Very well," Link said, "You shall all ride with me and rid this country of evil!"
And with that, the army of men raced into battle for the final time. Zelda remained back with Evan, waiting for Link to return so that they could begin what they needed to do. The sounds of the battle echoed far into the fields of Hyrule. Terrible screams of agony and defeat could be heard above the clashing of swords. Evan put his hands over his ears, unused to the horrible sounds of battle. Zelda looked on with hope and pride upon the people of her land and its allies.
Ganondorf's defenses were beginning to falter and Link knew it. "We need to break through somewhere!" he called to his companions. He pointed toward an area that was particularly weak, and the six of them focused their efforts on that region. Within a short time, they had broken a hole through the line of evil. Link called out to his friends once again.
"I must get Zelda and Evan now! I will return shortly! Hold the area open!" Without even waiting for a response, he rushed back to his wife and son.
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John and Jacob were not close to where Link and the other leaders had been fighting, and they too were doing an excellent job. When it was apparent that the Knights were going to fight with Link, Jacob assumed control over the remaining army on his side. At first, it was met with scrutiny. Most of the men didn't want to follow a teenager into battle. But as they advanced on the creatures' defense, their confidence in him skyrocketed and they were willing to do anything he commanded. With bravery and courage he never knew he had, Jacob led the men through the line of defense. Up in the distance, he could see the lead group make its way through the enemy and decided to join up with them. They ran as fast as they could, slashing, cutting, and killing any enemies that were in the way. They would soon be there.
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Link returned with Zelda and Evan as quick as he could and led them through the fighting to where Nick and the others were beating back some of the enemy. The three family members ran up next to the tower's barrier and looked up at it in unison. The tall structure rising high into the sky seemed to be impenetrable, but with the Amulets of the Goddesses in their hands, it would soon fall.
They stood in a triangle, the base of which faced the tower. On the right side of the base stood Link, Bracer of Courage ready. Zelda stood at the left corner of the base with the Necklace of Wisdom. At the top point of the triangle stood little Evan with the Ring of Power on his finger. He had no clue what he was supposed to do, but he was eager to do whatever it took to help his mother and father.
"To unlock the powers of the Amulets, we must concentrate our energies onto the barrier," Link shouted to his family. Zelda nodded her understanding, while Evan gazed up at the tower and started to stare.
"Evan!" Zelda yelled to him, "Evan, you must concentrate! Evan!"
The boy finally broke out of his trance. He felt funny, as if something inside the tower was pulling at his soul, trying to release the evil within. Evan shook off the feeling and concentrated on the task at hand. He nodded and smiled toward his mother, and she returned it. All three turned to face the tower and began to focus their energies into the Amulets, and dispelling the barrier.
Almost instantly, the three began to glow in bright colors: Link in green, Zelda in blue, and Evan in red. Soon, their bodies were no longer visible to the surrounding soldiers. Some of them, both man and creature, stopped fighting altogether to look upon the spectacle that was taking place. Realizing that if the three succeeded they would be defeated, a pack of twenty Moblins rushed the glowing triangle. The Knights were being kept occupied by another pack of Moblins and had no chance to stop the rushing pack.
The lead Moblin ran forward even faster, spear held out in front of him. His target was Link, who he figured would be the greatest kill. He came closer and closer to the triangle without them even knowing. He leapt into the air, spear high above his head, victory in his eyes. As he was about to come down on Link, he was hit hard from the side and was tackled onto the ground. Above him stood Jacob, sword in hand, tip resting on the Moblin's chest. Without hesitation, or even so much as sympathy, Jacob thrust his sword through the leader, and twisted his sword. The Moblin squealed in agony as its life was taken from it. Jacob removed his blade.
The rest of the men that had come with Jacob and John were fending off any enemies that tried to get even close to Link and his family. As they ran their swords through creature after creature, the glowing triangle began brighter and brighter. The three colored lights rose into the air, higher and higher until they were above the tower itself. Link, Zelda, and Evan lay weak on the ground, their energies being used by the Amulets. Link could barely lift his head up enough to be able to see the Amulets form a triangle, surrounding the tower. Suddenly, the three orbs of light sent out a beam of energy toward the tower, coming to a point at the highest point of the barrier. The intensity of the light grew until it was unbearable to look at it. The light consumed the entire battlefield, halting all battles. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the light was gone.
Link was finally able to open his eyes again. He looked up at the tower. It looked almost the same as it did before, except for one thing. The hazy glow of the barrier was completely gone. He smiled to himself, happy that they had accomplished the task. He heard Zelda and Evan move, and realized that all the fighting had ceased. He slowly stood up and glanced around the field. All around, the army of men from Hyrule, Dellenia, Malaank, and Larosia stood in bewilderment, while looking around themselves. All the creatures that they had been fighting, even the ones they had killed, were gone. The light simply made them vanish away.
"Link!" Nick rushed over to his friend. "What happened?"
He smiled to his friend. "We won the battle. The Goddesses swept the fields clean of the evil that infested them."
"Then it's over!"
Link shook his head. "Not quite, my friend. I still have to defeat Ganondorf." He gestured with his head to the tower, and Nick understood instantly.
Aaron and William rushed over to Zelda and helped her onto her feet. "Princess, are you alright?" a concerned Aaron asked.
"Yes, Aaron, I'm fine. Thank you." As they made their way over to Link, William spotted something glittering on the ground. He reached down and picked it up.
"Your Highness? Does this belong to you?"
"Oh! The Necklace of Wisdom! I would've hated myself if I had lost that!" She quickly grabbed the necklace from William's outstretched hand and placed it gently around her neck again. "Come on… this battle isn't over yet."
Robert helped Evan up and walked over to Link and Zelda.
"What shall we do with him? Surely, you won't let him go into the tower."
"Of course not, Robert," Zelda said, "he needs to get back to the castle where its safe. Could you bring him back?"
"With all due respect, Your Highness, I would much prefer to stay here to protect the Royal Family."
"I know that, Robert. But if something should go wrong in there, I need someone strong to protect my baby. I would be honored if you would accept that task."
"I cannot say no to you, Princess. I shall do as you please. The boy will never be left unguarded." Robert bowed respectfully.
"Thank you, Robert." She turned and kneeled next to her son. "Now, Evan, I want you to go back to the castle with Sir Robert."
"But I don't want to go! I want to stay here with you!"
"I know you do, sweetheart, but it's going to be very dangerous in there, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"But I want to help!"
Zelda smiled at her son. He was so courageous, just like his father. "But you already have, Evan. More than you'll ever know. Now do what mommy says and go back to the castle."
Evan sighed, but smiled at the same time. "Alright, I'll go."
"That's my boy," she said as she hugged him tightly. "Don't worry, me and your father will be back before you know we're gone." Robert took hold of Evan's hand and they began the walk back to the castle. She continued on her way toward Link, and as she got there, so did Charles and two other soldiers from the Hylian army.
"Link, you remember John and Jacob?" Charles asked.
"I do. You were able to escape from Baru and send word of the attack."
"Yes, that's us, Sir Link," Jacob replied.
"These two led a group of men through the enemy's defenses and saved you from an ambush," Charles informed him.
"An ambush?" Confusion and surprise spread across Link's face. "When?"
"When you were dispelling the barrier, Sir," John replied. "The Knights could not get to you, but we came to your aid."
"Then I owe you both. If we were slain, evil would have roamed free over Hyrule."
"No need to thank us, Sir. We just did what we had to do," John answered.
"We did it for Baru… our friends… our… parents…" Jacob bowed his head.
"I understand. We shall mourn the losses soon enough, but now we must finish the job. You two are welcome to join us in the tower, if you'd like. We could always use two more good fighters."
"We would be honored, Sir," they replied in unison, bowing at the same time.
"Well, then," Nick interjected, "enough with the talk. Let's go topple this tower."
Link, Zelda, Nick, Charles, Aaron, William, Jacob, and John entered Ganondorf's Tower and prepared for the worst.