Chapter Three: Surrogates

Ganondorf looked down at his minions, gathered in small encampments outside of Hyrule Castle's walls, with military commanders and their personal guards within the castle's spacious courtyard, directly adjacent to its central tower and throne room, where the King of Evil resided.

The first group he saw was the Moblins, commanding their various substrains according to rank. King Gramlin held ultimate sway over his goblin brethren, but even the lowest of Moblins ruled over their weaker cousins, the Bublins, long ago disgraced when their king surrendered to the Hero of Twilight. Ganondorf himself did not lay blame on these descendants, but felt some grim satisfaction in seeing them relegated and cowed into servitude by their more powerful, more loyal cousins.

Not far, and at times intermingling with the Moblin camp, sat Onox's army. They were feasting, drinking, and engaging in wrestling and wild brawling. Even victory could not sate these men's lust for battle, and indeed they battled each other just to pass the time, gambling away their old salaries and harshly punishing the losers (assuming they survived the first fight). They were unruly, but had the discipline of soldiers, and they would remain useful.

The Lizalfos were positioned furthest away, near a large bonfire; they needed such heat, which is why they had preferred the desert and its subterranean caverns. Unlike Ganondorf, they did not seek the temperate climate of Hyrule, they just needed more lands to call their own to house their population, and more fertile lands to catch their prey within. Though they enjoyed the climate of the desert more than Ganondorf had, they too had despised the emptiness, the void of life. Because of their appearance, they had long ago been forced out of civilized lands, and their hatred of Hylians was centuries, millennia old, and none of them remembered quite why they had been denied.

Ganondorf also spotted Veran and her small entourage of aspiring sorceresses and mages almost directly below his tower, carrying enormous numbers of books from the royal library. A few of their servants were lighting lanterns and building fires, and they were unlikely to get any rest that night. Not while there was something to learn.

The Dark Interlopers had left long ago, and Ganondorf had no idea where they'd disappeared to. Did they already suspect his plans to dispose of them? Or had they spent so much time wandering in darkness they could no longer bear to see light?

Whatever the reason, it was time for him to retrieve his helpers, and fulfill a promise he'd made before he seized the Triforce of Power.

Such was the act of a 'good son', after all.

-

Scourge and Dark Link stopped at last, as they reached the densest place in the woods, and stood before a damaged tree, with a deep, dark crevice within its trunk.

It was hard to believe, Scourge mused, that this entrance had once been a larger chasm, one of many such deep canyons in the land of Hyrule. Millennia or more ago, his ancestors had discovered the properties of this chasm, and realized where it led.

They had retrieved a rather curious object, apparently from the other side, and attempted to control its power, only to find the object possessed those who sought to wield it. They abandoned the evil, sentient thing to its own devices.

The last they heard of it, it had been destroyed by the ancient savior of Hyrule, the Hero of Time. Such, it seemed, was a typical fate for those who sought to gain control over the fertile world.

But the Hero of Time had done battle with the evil object on the other side of this chasm, in a land beyond the reach of even Ganondorf.

From what few of their number had returned, they had at least learned what to call it:

Termina.

-

Ganondorf disappeared from his new bedchamber in the castle's tower, teleporting out beyond inhabited borders to within an immense desert he had once called his home. While he had no particular desire to visit this place again, he knew that his mothers had interred themselves here, in a place where no mortal could survive long enough to find them.

Like all Gerudo they had lived in these barren wastes, and shared Ganondorf's distaste for it. However, as the Gerudo slowly died out and their blood ceased to be pure as they married Hylian men, his mothers decided to remain here, to vanguard the secrets of their race, and keep their most powerful magical abilities hidden away from prying and unworthy eyes.

Ganondorf was uncomfortable with the spot they'd chosen, as he could still clearly see the Arbiter's Grounds, even though the sands of time had nearly worn it away. It was at the top of that ancient tower where the Ancient Sages had attempted to execute him, and then successfully trapped him in the realm of twilight. Though with each successive entrapment the time had seemed to flow faster, each time Ganondorf had been imprisoned he had waited decades or more for an opportunity to free himself.

He wasn't a particularly patient man to begin with. That he had been denied so often had only amplified his anger and his desire for conquest. It had driven him to pursue vengeance, where before he may have been content to simply rule unopposed, now he felt it necessary to quell any uprising. His appearance when trapped in what had once been the Sacred Realm had changed drastically from the man standing before the desert spire. His anger and hatred warped him into a true monster, a form he had created during his first battle with the Hero of Time. In his desperate search for greater power he had allowed the Triforce piece to warp and contort his body, so long as it made him stronger.

In the end, power and strength were all that mattered. Everyone would yield to a king, no matter what kind of face was beneath his crown.

He reached down to lift the sands, searching for the uneven grains. Somewhere, waiting beneath the endless desert-

-he found it a few moments later, as he allowed the sand to fall away from his hand, and retrieved the one single bauble among the trillions worth keeping. With a small amplification of his power, Ganondorf activated the latent energies within the smooth grain, and the ground beneath him began to rumble.

Slowly, the tower emerged from beneath the desert wastes. Small structure though it had once been, beneath the shifting sands existed a larger building. It had once been a resting place and sanctuary for those who sought to cross the desert. Like every other building out in the waste, it had been worn away by the sands, but had served its purpose and protected its occupants from the damage of time's flow.

Ganondorf stepped easily inside rather than rip a wall asunder –his preferred method of entry- so as to preserve the precious contents within, stored inside a single crystal, scarcely larger than a grain of sand. This precious stone had served as a safeguard for Hyrule's two most powerful mages several times throughout their centuries-long lives, and for them, their time spent within would be instantaneous, not unlike the magical slumber Zelda had once been confined to.

Ganondorf released a wave of his magic as he grasped the crystal, allowing his power to flow through it and for his energy to be detected by its inhabitants. Immediately the dull crystal ran through a spectrum of colors, from blue, to red, before becoming purple like an amethyst, and beginning to expand.

The King of Evil set the crystal down and allowed the process to complete itself. Once reaching an optimum length it split into two, and from each of its 'halves' formed an old woman in a black robe, adorned by an additional color- red or blue- and briefly alight with energy tinted purple. The two took a few moments to gather their bearings before recognizing the man before them, and at once their initial torpor turned to delight.

"Good morning," Ganondorf greeted. "Mothers."

-

What castle guards remained with the princess had finally agreed that nothing could be done to retake Hyrule Castle with their limited numbers, and were now contemplating where to flee to, as the King of Evil would surely send his minions to follow them, and Kakariko was not far from his new stronghold. They weren't sure who among the people they could trust to conceal them; after so many returns from apparent death or imprisonment, everyone in Hyrule had come to fear the Dark Lord, and had no wish to provoke his ire. Old oaths to protect the royal bloodline had been replaced by simple, ordinary practicality, and the majority of Hyrule's citizens would pledge fealty to Ganon once his reign was consolidated. Even now word of his return and subsequent victory was spreading, and soon it would be common knowledge.

Who could she trust? Zelda had been locked away in an enchanted sleep; she'd been saved by the new hero before Ganondorf had seized her throne, but she had barely time to so much as meet the populace. She knew a few mayors and constables, and she had her own servants and soldiers, but the common people of Hyrule had not even seen her before the Dark Lord staged his coup. She had no more right to command them than her usurper.

"We should head to Zora's Domain," Zelda recommended. "If the Zora have turned against us there is no hope at all."

"What of the Gorons?" a soldier asked. "We are right beside their territory."

"And right beside Ganondorf as well," Zelda pointed out. "He will come to this village, and he will scale that mountain. If we go to Zora's domain we can escape along any river. If we go to Goron Mountain we will have to remain there, and Ganondorf will outlast us."

He had the Master Sword as well as the Triforce of Power, Zelda added only to herself. He is immortal and holding one of only two weapons that can harm him.

The other, of course, was the light held within the Triforce of Wisdom. She could harm Ganondorf with it –light was anathema to an impure mind like his- but she could barely wield it as she was, returned from her long sleep. She did not possess the same strength Link did, and thus could not use her power for extended periods of time. She could not wield the Master Sword, and had only mediocre skill with a bow. Firing off the light in short bursts would only stun Ganondorf; not kill him. That secret she had learned from her ancestors, all the way back to the first Princess Zelda.

"Will he not follow us wherever we flee to?" asked another soldier.

"Yes, he will," Zelda confirmed. "We will all be parting ways in time. If our old allies will offer us refuge for a short while, that will be all we need. Ganondorf is arrogant- he will savor his victory before he pursues us. When he comes, he will be relentless. We must be out of his reach."

Though the soldiers certainly had objections (their faces betrayed that), they followed her command. Zelda and her servants headed out once more on foot, cloaked and concealed so as not to call attention to themselves. They headed to the nearest developed settlement, the village of Darunia, home to a small community of Goron miners and Hylian craftsmen.

As they entered the vastness of Hyrule field, a solitary man on horseback watched them pass with his single eye.

He had long since discarded his name, as was customary for those accepted into the hierarchy of the Dark Interlopers. He had been allowed to name himself anew once he was trusted, and chose the title- 'Collector,' after an… unusual hobby of his, which his brothers thoroughly approved of. He was third in command, and had remained just beyond Ganon's allies, supporting his master Scourge from afar.

Zelda was moving, as they predicted. She had to remain outside of Mandrag Ganon's reach, in the hope this would prevent him from playing out the betrayal they knew was coming. Ganon hated to sully his own hands, and would keep the Interlopers to track the princess.

The Interlopers themselves had plans for her, after all… they needed the piece of the Triforce embedded within her heart. Ganondorf nearly had two already, and once all three came together, whoever first touched the unified Triforce would be granted their wish.

For the Dark Interlopers, on the verge of extinction and after centuries of struggle, would finally grasp the power of the gods and make it their own.

And if all else failed, Scourge had his back up plan… and Collector, too, had an agenda. Every ruler was willing to compromise their principles for the sake of peace and prosperity… and the credit that came with it. Princess Zelda, however pure of heart she may have been, was surely a pragmatist. She would be willing to make a pact with the Interlopers and ally with them against Ganondorf.

Twice before, the Triforce of Power had fled from Ganondorf's hand. Once the Interlopers caused enough damage to make that happen, the one who felled the King of Evil could claim his power.

And then, of course, they would kill the Princess and complete the unification. They would end the endless cycle that had denied them their dreams time and time again.

The Triforce remained in three parts because of Ganondorf's undying ambition and Zelda's unyielding resistance, and the inevitable rise of a boy from the forest with uncompromising bravery.

One down. Two to go.

Collector stirred up his horse and followed them across the field, impossible to perceive in the darkness, as the Dark Interlopers always had been.

-

"This isn't the kingdom I remember," Koume observed, floating on her broomstick beside her sister as they headed from the desert back to the center of the green lands of Hyrule. "How long has it been?"

"Centuries," Kotake guessed. "It would take that long to develop this sort of infrastructure. The kingdom of Hyrule has actually colonized the field; population must be a lot bigger."

"And our daughters must've intermarried and left the desert behind," Koume noted, grim. "Weak hearted traitors."

"Can you blame them?" Kotake asked. "What choice did they have, without a strong hand to guide them?"

"They were proud warriors," Koume snorted. "I'd hoped we had raised them better."

Ganondorf floated beside them over the landscape, examining the villages dotting the green surface; unwelcome blemishes on the land he had coveted for so long. He was not so bloodthirsty as to wish all of them destroyed, but he could do with fewer settlements. Hyrule's once perfect beauty had been corrupted by the rise of industry and horticulture, and its natural state was gradually losing out to increased populations.

And Ganondorf's allies had joined him specifically to gain parts of that territory to forge new kingdoms for themselves… with the Gerudo gone, Ganondorf had no people of his own to safeguard, only the tools he had kept.

Some were loyal, and he would honor his promises. Others were anything but, and it was time to deal with them.

"There is no need to focus on the past," Ganondorf told his mothers. "The Gerudo will live forever, so long as I endure."

Koume smiled. "That's our boy."

"Our king," Kotake corrected.

It was a fitting place, Ganondorf concluded, to be the last of the Gerudo. Whatever affection he'd once had for his people had been sacrificed to his ambition of ruling Hyrule. Whatever affection he had for his mothers had dulled; now it was simply out of respect for their magical power that he had come to collect them. To him, the name Gerudo was only an unpleasant reminder of the desert he had reluctantly called his home.

Only because he and his mothers had been sealed away had they avoided aging; only because of the strength of their magic and his Triforce of Power had they survived for centuries. Ganondorf could not begrudge his former people for being mortal, or for figuratively dying out. Time, he had learned, would never truly stop.

Except, of course, for those about to die.

-

The order came down as soon as Ganondorf returned to the castle. He summoned his Dark Interloper allies to his throne room to accept their reward, while quietly giving word to Havoc and Gramlin to kill any stragglers. They obeyed him without question- they had never trusted Hylians anyway- and were only too willing to dispose of them.

Only two of the cloaked, somber members stepped in. Their leader was gone, and so was the apparition known as Dark Link.

"Where is Scourge?" Ganondorf asked.

"Returned to tell our brothers the good news," answered one of the two. "He intends to return at first light."

"You have promised our reward," the second pointed out.

"Yes," Ganondorf confirmed. "Eternal peace."

He drew the Master Sword and disposed of his treacherous allies. Outside, he could just barely hear the battle cry of the Lizalfos as they began one last slaughter after a long day's battle… and the night soon erupted in chaos. Even with less than a dozen former allies to fell, there was plenty of fun to be had…