Author's Notes:

While I stick very closely to the HTTYD movie/TV show lore, I take liberties with the LoZ elements. Please read with an open mind, as if this were a new game.

New chapters on Wednesdays. The whole thing, 30 chapters plus Prologue, is written and will be posted!

***If you're jumping in here and you like what you're reading, I highly recommend going back to the beginning because things are ramping up, and it will make a lot more sense with full context. :P

A spiked gauntlet rested on the black helmet while the other hand drummed against the throne's ornately carved armrest. Ganon glowered at the battle around him. The Captain was still pinned to the pillar by that tiny forest girl. The Yiga continued to be picked off one by one, so the Shiekah must be here somewhere. He had lost sight of the white dress after the Princess had flown in on one of the comical steeds, and while the boy had not been spotted since the battle began, he could not have gone far. That left only one individual unaccounted for.

At that moment, the front doors burst into fire followed by the grinding collapse of stone as the foyer detonated in a series of blasts. Through the dust and smoke, a figure leapt from one of the flying creatures and rolled to his feet. The final explosion silhouetted the green tunic and pointed hat. The figure gripped the Master Sword in his left hand where the Triforce of Courage flared.

"GANON!" the Hero called out.

The Desert King smiled. At last.

He settled the helmet over his fiery hair, leaving only his gleaming teeth and amber eyes visible. "I've been looking forward to this," he said as the Hero stopped at the foot of the dais. The youth had grown several inches since the last time he'd seen him, and where naive ambition had once been, he now saw grim determination.

The boy raised his sword. "Not as much as I have." He widened his stance and shouted. "I am Link, chosen Hero of the goddesses! Today, Ganon, you meet your demise!"

Ganon sat back and laced his fingers. "And what exactly are you the hero of? Recklessness? Cowardice?" The Hero pursed his lips and his cheeks grew red. The Desert King lowered his chin, which sharpened his features like a hawk, and adopted a devilish smile. "What would your princess say if she knew it was because of you that I succeeded last time?"

Link glared. "She already knows. Your mind games won't work on me anymore."

"This is no game." The hero twitched, the smallest betrayal of fear cracking through his tough demeanor. Ganon smirked. So, he was still just a boy after all. Game or no, he could still play with his food.

\\\

Link tensed as Ganon leaned forward on the throne, curling inward and racked with tiny spasms. Link thought the Desert King was seized by a coughing fit but then realized it was much more sinister. Laughter gurgled in Ganon's throat, growing like a volcano. He threw his head back and let it ring out. The manic guffaw made every hair on Link's head stand on end. The Master Sword trembled in his hands. The laughter, it needed to stop!

Summoning the courage of the Triforce, Link gripped the Master Sword and lunged up the stairs, leaping two at a time. Still laughing, Ganon pointed toward the ceiling. Red darted from his finger and ripped a block of stone from the crumbling roof. With the twitch of his finger, the stone whizzed through the air. Instantly, the hurricane winds died.

Link stopped just short of the throne as he saw Ganon's mouth curl into a smile. Time slowed. His fingers froze. His mouth went dry, the taste of copper remaining on his thick tongue. Slowly, he turned to see the tiny form of his sister free fall twenty feet and thud like a ragdoll on the ground.

A yell exploded from his chest. He spun around and sliced. The top half of the ancient throne toppled to the ground.

"Fight me if you dare." The taunt came from above. Link looked up. Ganon stood forty feet in the air on top of the massive, ragged pillar.

Tears burning in his eyes, Link cast one more glare up at the Desert King before running back down the dais. Ganon's laughter chased him. He didn't care. How could he be the Hero if he couldn't even save—

Link bounced off an invisible wall and fell flat on his back. He angrily tossed his bangs out of his face and looked forward. Where he had impacted, a red gridded network was fading. "NOO!" Link scrambled to his feet and slashed at the barrier. The Master Sword bounced off so violently he almost dropped it. The red grid rippled from wall to wall, sealing off the back portion of the hall. He hit it again with the same results.

He dropped the useless weapon at his feet and pressed his hands against the barrier, red lines of energy spider-webbing away from his touch. He could only make out a glimpse of her bright green hair, a source of life amidst the gray. "Get up, Saria," he whispered.

Movement at the windows caught his eye. A bulblin. Link felt his chest tighten and went still as it clambered over the windowsill and into the throne room. Maybe it wouldn't see her. But even as that thought occurred, the bulblin turned its attention to her tiny body and shuffled forward.

"No! Stop!" Link screamed.

The bulblin snapped its head toward Link and shot an arrow. Link dodged as the arrow zipped past his ear. A one-way barrier? A second bulblin climbed through the window as the first drew its blade and stood over his sister.

"No! NO!" Link screamed and beat against the barrier. "SARIA!"

Ganon roared with laughter. Link took a step backwards, taking deep, shuddering breaths. There was nothing he could do for her, not right now. But that monster, that beast …

Link grabbed the Master Sword. Without another look back, he threw it into the scabbard, raced up the dais, and began climbing the ugly, contorted pillar.

\\\

The Captain threw off the few koroks which continued to pelt him with their little wings, and they scuttled behind broken ceiling beams. He was about to pursue Link up the pillar when he was tackled from behind. He kicked off the attacker, rolled, and got to his feet, already holding the black sword in front of him. His eyes went wide seeing who it was.

"TRAITOR!" Impa yelled. She dove toward him again. He parried the attack easily and noticed that she was fighting with her weaker arm. Little red spots bloomed all over her body, seeping through the blue armor from countless slits and cuts. Her right sleeve was soaked with crimson, and she wheezed with every breath. It felt like a hand was squeezing his heart. Darling! You need a medic! In this state she posed a greater threat to herself than to him.

He dodged as she slashed at him, forcing him backwards up one of the rickety staircases. "Impa, listen to me!"

"Your actions have spoken for you!" She had him pressed against the balcony railing. It creaked. A piece of charred wood broke off and fell to the ground floor. She didn't relent.

He shoved her off and leapt onto the railing. The splintering wood cracked under his weight, but he managed to jump into the rafters above. As soon as he'd clambered to his feet, he looked down. Impa remained on the balcony as he'd hoped, looking from the rafters to the floor below. She took a step back. Kogah released the faintest sigh; her fear of heights might just save her life. Please, he thought, stay there, where it's safe.

Then, taking a running start, she planted a foot on the railing. The wood gave way. Her arms flailed through the air, and she just barely caught the rafter beam. Her shoulder must have been screaming at her, but she pulled herself up. Climbing to her feet, her white hair spilling out of her bun, she raised her sword. There was murder in her eyes.

\\\

Hiccup dashed across the uneven pavers. The princess was somewhere behind him, warning him not to run out in the open. He chose not to listen, not after seeing Saria slammed out of the air. Two bulblins that had managed to climb the moat were already standing over the kokiri girl.

Hiccup snatched a dusty bow and quiver off the ground. There was only one arrow. He skidded to a stop, nocked the arrow, and fired. The impaled bulblin fell with a howl. The second bulblin whipped its head towards Hiccup then charged at him, tongue lolling out, foaming saliva splattering in disgusting arcs across the ground. Hiccup dropped the empty quiver and grabbed a discarded sword as the bulblin leapt at him. He squeezed his eyes shut as it skewered itself on the chipped blade. Hiccup let it fall, the sword snapping in the process, and scrambled the rest of the way to Saria.

"Hey, hey," he said urgently as he dropped down next to her. Her face was too pale, her breathing too fast.

A glittering tear rolled down her cheek as she turned her face towards him. "Hiccup?" she croaked, then winced and clutched her side.

"Umm, you're going to be fine," he said. His voice trembled almost as much as his fingers as he pressed on the wound, trying to staunch the flow that was already pooling around her.

"I should have … listened to Impa," Saria said with effort. "I'm such an idiot."

Hiccup gave a half smile. "Maybe a bit stupid." She managed a side-long glare. "Noble, but stupid," he clarified.

She smirked. "I'm not the only one." Her hand fumbled for her pocket. "I wanted to tell Link. I wanted to surprise him after—" She tensed as pain seized her small body.

"Whoa. Look at me, Saria." Tears streamed from her eyes as she focused on him. Keeping one hand over the wound, he grabbed her other hand. "We're going to make it through this, alright? And you're going to tell him yourself."

\\\

The narrow beam creaked beneath Impa's feet. They were only a hundred feet in the air, but it may as well have been a thousand. No time for fear now. In front of her, Kogah stood with his blade drawn, the same blade which three years ago had hacked Master Jin to bits.

"Faithless coward!" she screamed. "You doomed the kingdom, everyone under your command!"

"We were outnumbered, and you know it."

"Hylia—"

"Hylia is gone! If she wasn't, why would she let all this happen?"

Impa didn't have an answer. With a yell, she lunged at him. He parried, the minimal movement infuriating as she continued to slash at him. The wound in her shoulder screamed, but she hissed through the pain. She was furious, unfocused, and she didn't care. He had betrayed Hyrule, the Sheikah, her!

She sliced upwards, catching the edge of his mask. Kogah spun away, and before she could react, he turned the tip of her blade. With the twist of his hand, her sword tumbled out of her grip, clattering on the broken stones far below. She gasped and stared at him.

His back was still to her, and when he spoke, his voice was so low she could barely hear it above the din of bulblins scrambling up the moat. "Ganon is unstoppable."

He turned around. The pristine mask now bore a deep gash through the center of the inverted eye. Impa caught her breath. I could have killed him. To her surprise, she didn't feel regret or disappointment at her failure to do so; instead, it was fear. I could have killed him. The realization shook her to her core.

He pointed the blade toward her, the mist swirling like crimson smoke. "What will be left of Hyrule if you continue to resist? I joined Ganon because I knew we could not stand against him. No one can!" Impa bit her tongue. She wanted to tell him he was wrong, but they had both been there, Link on her back and Master Jin at his feet.

Kogah lowered the sword and looked with disgust at the black blade. His words rang with a quiet, raging passion. "Believe me, if there was any hope left, I would be the first to take it." Did he mean that? She had not known him to be a liar.

He pulled off the broken mask and let it fall. It tumbled past their feet, lost among the chaos below like her own weapon. He looked up, and for the first time in three years, their eyes met. Her heart skipped a beat. They were just as she had remembered them. Commanding yet compassionate. The eyes that had broken down her barriers, gently inviting her to share the fragile heart she had striven so hard to protect, patiently encouraging her in all her brokenness to hope and love again. Even now, there was no malice, no manipulation, only an honest despair. If things were different, she might … If he could be that man again …

"But let's face it," he said. "This is a fight we cannot win."

Impa clenched her fists. "Perhaps we cannot," she said. "But even if I do not live past this darkness, I will not allow you to further Ganon's plans." With a flash, she grabbed his sword and knocked him down. Pointing the cursed blade to his throat she said, "You can still fulfill your oath and die for Hyrule."

Fear flashed through Kogah's eyes as he clasped the narrow beam beneath him. His voice trembled. "Impa, that blade … If you do this, you will never be the same again."

"If that's what it takes," she said with a quiver in her voice.

"You don't understand. To take blood with that blade, your soul is no longer your own."

Dark magic. "The cards?"

"The Witch gets the rest." A chill crept down Impa's spine as question after question flashed through her mind: What witch? What did she want with their souls? … Was Kogah doomed to that fate?

Slowly, very slowly, the former Sheikah raised his hands. "I don't care about my own life. After all I've done"—a shadow passed over his face—"it would be better if I died. But for you"—his eyes locked with hers. She had to hold the blade with two hands to steady herself—"this will not bring you peace."

"You don't know anything!" she screamed. "You don't know what I've been through. What you put me through!" The trembling blade nicked his throat. A tiny trickle of blood ran down his neck. He didn't flinch.

"No," he said, "but I know you. You are stronger than this hatred. Let me die by another's hand."

Impa kept the sword at his throat. She could end it all here, put the last traitor down and in some way bring justice to the world. And yet she hesitated. If there was any hope left, I would be the first to take it. What a bitter twist of fate.

Crimson mist streaked through the air as she raised the cursed blade.

\\\

Link gasped. He could barely hold up the Master Sword. His legs shook. Every motion was labored. He saw things in slow motion and yet couldn't move as fast as he wanted.

The climb had not been difficult. There were plenty of ledges and handholds in the jagged rockwork, but he was still unprepared for what awaited him at the top. Ganon's attacks had been merciless, with a speed and ferocity he couldn't match. Link hadn't so much as landed a blow on him. If Ganon had been motivated by mission before, Link recognized he was now fueled by revenge. For wasting three years, for being bested once before. Link could see the fury in the amber eyes. He intended to make Link suffer.

There it was. Ganon's massive blade swinging down towards him again. Link brought up his sword to block. They hit. Link's strength gave out. The glimmering Master Sword flew from his hands, swiveled across the floor, and tumbled off the edge.

Link's eyes went wide, but before he could react, he was swept off his feet. Air was instantly cut off, and his eyes began to burn as a massive hand crushed his throat. Link tried to fight the panic as Ganon lifted him up.

"Is this all the goddesses could muster?" the Desert King scoffed. Black spots muddied Link's vision as the massive glove cinched around his neck.

"No! Not all!"

Link's eyes darted to the right, but he knew who it was before he saw. About ten feet away on the edge of the pillar with them stood Zelda. Her royal raiment was ripped and dirty, but her face was stalwart as a mountain.

"Ah," Ganon said, still holding Link with one arm, "the Princess. How does it feel to be the last of your line?"

Zelda stood there pale but unmoving. "I will not allow you to desecrate this land any longer."

The princess lifted her hands as she had done years ago in the temple shrine, looking through the broken roof to the unblemished heavens. She was about to speak when red energy like a crystal surrounded her body.

\\\

"Hold on, Saria," Hiccup encouraged as another spasm of pain rocked her. They were out of immediate danger; the few bulblins that were managing to slip in through the window were preoccupied with the koroks, but without help, Saria wouldn't make it.

He was startled by Saria squeezing his hands. She coughed, took a few shallow breaths, then whispered. "Help him." She raised a feeble finger towards the center of the hall. Hiccup looked on in horror as Ganon held Link in one hand and had trapped Zelda in crystal with the other.

"Hurry," Saria said.

"I— but you'll—"

"Go."

Hiccup pursed his lips, then squeezed her hand. "I'll be back." With one last look at the pale girl, he sprinted across the hall towards the enemy.

Author's Notes:

All last week the view counter was down. I'm guessing people are still reading, but I can't see it. If you feel like it, leave a review to let me know chapters are still going up :)

Anyone catch the reference to "The Force Awakens"? Too good an opportunity to pass up.

Three more chapters to go!

Thanks to Ari Lewis and Luke for beta reading!