Part 3 Knight versus Wizard

Link put on his green hat and sat down. What should he do? Still sitting on his bed, he was thinking that he hadn't scheduled anything. He wondered if anyone would be available for today. Maybe Saria would be free.

He stood back up and was about to leave his house but he looked to his right. There lay his sword and shield. He hadn't used those in a long time. Luckily there was no need for such tools. But then he remembered that he hadn't practiced in a while since there was nothing to practice on. Maybe he should take it for a training session after he got back from Saria's.

Link walked out to his balcony and stopped. He wondered if he should go to Saria's or if he should go to Zelda's. This could be the chance to tell her, he thought jokingly to himself. The truth was he did have feelings for Zelda, strong, affectionate feelings that had lingered in him for four years, but he never said anything. He knew she didn't feel that way about him. To her, he was a friend, that was all. He didn't want to ruin anything and make it awkward between the two of them. His emotions did burn a hole inside his heart though and all this time without telling her was making him ache.

He sat down on the balcony leaning against the outside wall of his house. He thought of her. Her light, delicate skin that had no flaws and shown with an aura of love. Her beautiful eyes were the color of the ocean that filled him with a feeling of safety and warmth. Her smile melted his heart and he did his best to never let it disappear. Her enlightening laugh, her angelic voice, and her desire to do what is right. Whenever he was near her he wanted to grab her and kiss her. But he knew that would never happen. All he could do was be her friend because that's all she wanted.

He made the decision to change his course for the castle. Hopefully she would have time for him.

He walked off of his balcony, down the ladder, and headed towards the opening to the meadow. But before he got as far as the next house he heard the sound of a horse. He looked up to see a pure white horse charging out of the opening where he walked. He stopped and saw that the man on the horse was a knight from the castle. The man was obviously upset about something because he was breathing hard, sweating madly, and looking as if he was about to cry. The horse slowed to a fast walk and stopped along side Link.

The knight turned to Link and said, "Sir Link, please you must gather your weapons and come with me!" The man was frantic when he said this. He could not sit still on the horse.

"Why, what's happening?" asked Link.

"Princess Zelda is being held captive by a man no one recognizes! He is in the throne room and he might be holding the King hostage! The man has asked specifically for you…you must come!" the knight replied with the same haste in his voice.

Link immediately ran back to his house, and grabbed his sword. He strapped on the sword, shield, along with his bow, quiver. Not taking an instant he ran out of his house and jumped off the balcony, completely forgetting about the ladder. He ran back towards the knight and got on the horse too.

The horse turned around and fired off through the forest. When they got through the forest and into the meadow, the knight made the horse go even faster. Along the way Link asked questions. "Who is this man? Where did he come from?"

"It is not known. He just appeared in the castle throne room holding the Princess. No one had seen him before that." The knight replied not even looking back at Link.

"Has he actually hurt any one?" Link asked.

"The main foyer was filled with bodies of other knights, it is strange because they are not harmed physically in anyway but they just won't wake up," the knight responded.

"Did he do anything else?" Link wondered.

"Not to my knowledge. We are coming up to the castle," the knight said. The horse had been passing through the market when Link asked his last question. It was obvious this knight was worried, but Link has slightly concerned about the horse which was being whipped on the sides far too much.

The guard at the gate quickly threw the entrance way open and watched them race through. The drawbridge was already down and all the guards around them watched them go by. The horse stopped abruptly in front of the stairs leading to the bridge. The knight on the horse whipped the horse hard on the side even when it wasn't moving.

"I'm sorry this horse was so slow, sir. It will be dealt with properly, I'll see to it," the knight said confidently getting off the horse. Link got off the horse too and walked up the stairs but quickly looked back at the knight. The knight raised his whip once again to hit the horse. But he never got the chance.

"Stop!" Link ordered. The knight stopped just in time. "Sir you will not touch that horse ever again, and you will be cleaning up after it for the next two weeks. Is that clear?" Link said this in a way that made the man flinch. Link could not stand seeing a helpless animal that had run so fast and then was rewarded only by a beating. Since he was a knight of Hyrule of the highest order he could give orders to almost anyone and make them do almost anything. He didn't normally use that luxury because he didn't want to be a bother but this display of animal beating was too much of violation to Link. Link turned to another guard who had heard and seen everything and said in the same ordering way, "See to it that this happens."

Link didn't waste anymore time; Zelda was in trouble and if there was going to be a fight; he would give his life for her's.

The man held Zelda in the same tight grip, but she no longer struggled. She was confident that Link would deal with this intruder and save her; he always did. That was just another reason why she was so infatuated with him.

The man turned toward the King and looked up at him. "Sorry to do this, but it's for good measure," the man said emotionlessly, "mikarulat!" at huge wall of energy rose from the floor and up to the ceiling. It was obvious what he was doing. He was forbidding the King from trying to get away.

The man lowered his mouth to Zelda's ear and whispered, "Sorry I ruined your day, I wonder if Link would have responded well to your admittance to your feelings."

When Zelda heard this she felt a flurry of emotions. She hated this man even more. How could he have known what she was planning today? She was afraid about what else he might know about her. He already knew so much; where her room was, where Impa's room was, and where the throne room was, and now this guy knew what she wanted.

"I've never met Link before but I'm sure he would be flattered to hear you speak such sweet words," the man continued, "but now what will happen? Will Link come to save you and even if he does…will he survive? You have seen my power. Do you think he can best me?" Zelda made no noise or no movement; she would not give him the satisfaction of a response. "That's what I thought too…but I guess we shall see. He shall be entering this room any minute now."

As if one cue Link came storming into the giant throne room. He was fully armed and ready to do whatever he must. When his eyes lay on the man he knew immediately that he was why he was called here; his eyes were a dead give away. But when he laid eyes on the helpless Zelda captive in his arms, Link grew angry instead of anxious. He quickly drew both his sword and shield and shouted, "Let her go!"

The cloaked man, for the first time that day, smiled. He looked at Link and didn't even flinch. This was why he was here; this was his target, his prize. "Of course," the man said and to everyone's surprise. He actually followed through too. Zelda was frozen for a moment because she had to get used to moving herself again. But when she came to her senses she did what she wanted to do for quite a while and punched the cloaked man in the stomach with all of her strength. She then ran over to Link for safety. The man doubled over slightly but straightened himself again as if nothing had happened.

Link and Zelda grabbed each other in a hug that lasted for a few seconds. He looked over at the man who had not taken his glowing eyes off of him. They stared at each other for a little while but then Link asked, "OK, now tell me who you are."

The man responded as if he were pleased Link had asked, "My name is Tomi. I have heard a great deal about you future Hero of Time." Link and Zelda's eyes widened at these words. How did he know about Link becoming Hero of Time? Did that mean he knew about the time traveling journey too?

"OK…Tomi…how do you know about the Hero of—," Link was going to finish his sentence but Tomi cut him off.

"All questions will be answered once this is over. Until then, you're mine!" Tomi said with an ominous tone. He drew his own sword from under his cloak and pointed it at Link. Link put his shield up and prepared for anything.

Link and Tomi stared at each other for many moments neither of them flinching. Their focus never left each other, always trying to read any message they could read in their eyes. But eventually as if someone had cried out "Go" the two swordsmen ran towards each other and with one enormous clang the two swords met. Link was surprised by the might of this guy, but he did not show it. Tomi on the other hand had expected no less from Link.

They began moving back and forth always pushing each other with their strength. They slashed, parried, stabbed, blocked, and pushed. But no matter how fast or powerful the two were, neither of them got close enough to do harm.

Link stabbed and Tomi easily parried the sword away and quickly brought his own weapon around crashing it down against Link's shield. Link then tried to drive his shield into Tomi's stomach. But Tomi had prepared for such an attack and grabbed the shield before it slammed into him. He then began to swing Link's arm back and forth in order to shake the shield off of his arm. With a powerful swing to the left Tomi pulled the shield away from Link and threw it a few yards away. Link was shieldless.

Instead of trying to charge at Tomi with his sword alone, he jumped a few feet back and pulled out a red stone from his pocket. Without a word, Link sheathed his sword and slammed his fist that held the Din's Fire onto the ground. Instantly a dome of fire surrounded Link and began to grow outwardly.

Tomi, without emotion, rose his hand and said, "Gaissel." When Tomi was engulfed in the scorching fire he did not move or feel a thing. Tomi saw that Link's sword was still sheathed and drove into him. Before Link could get his sword all the way out of its scabbard Tomi had come and slashed Link right across the chest. Link only grunted and jumped back even further away from Tomi.

Link's tunic was cut slightly, exposing a cut that was spilling blood freely. The cut was not deep. He got back into a defensive stance and waited.

Tomi charged again and the two were clashing once more. Link was holding his sword with two hands while Tomi was fancily maneuvering his with one.

Link tried to slice into Tomi with a heavy overhead attack. Tomi quickly jumped to the side and kicked Link in the stomach. Link doubled over and tried to stand again but Tomi was too fast and swiftly kicked him in the chin which sent him flying a few feet.

Tomi walked over to Link's left hand which held his sword and kicked Link's weapon away. He then stomped into Link's chest right where the cut was. This time Link let out a gasp of pain. Tomi stood over Link and looked down at him. Link looked back up at him glaring.

"You disappoint me," Tomi said sinisterly. He chose to use his dominant status to slam his foot into Link's nose, which also began to bleed, into his stomach, and lastly into his groin. Link was closing his eyes and was unable to breathe properly from the beating. He opened one eye slightly and tried to speak but no sound came out of his mouth because Tomi immediately kicked him straight in the jaw. Link was forced onto his side from the blow and was coughing slightly.

Tomi raised his sword over his head and was prepared to strike again right when he felt something on the side of his head. It was just a light tap but it made him turn to see where it had come from. Tomi saw a shoe laying on the floor next to him and looked up to see Zelda looking back at him with such a glare it almost made Tomi raise an eyebrow. But then Tomi thought of an idea. He walked over to Zelda and instead of grabbing her again like he had before, he pointed his sword right at her throat. The point was only two inches away from her neck and the flat part of the blade was pushing up her chin, making her look up.

Tomi looked back at Link who had recovered slightly and was slowly climbing towards his fallen sword. "Barenkar!" Tomi cried and suddenly Link's sword flew fifty feet farther from Link. Link looked up at Tomi and glowered at him. His expression quickly changed when he saw that Zelda was in danger again. His strength came back suddenly and he stood up weakly.

"What are you going to do? You have nothing; I have proven your magic is pathetic compared to my own, any projectiles you can think of firing would be pointless, and your sword is far from you," Tomi mocked, "what, oh what are you going to do?"

Link was boxed into a corner; he didn't have any other weapons except his bow, but he did have something else. He had grabbed it just in case things had gone beyond his control, and they had. He pulled out his last resort and looked down upon it.

For the first time in a long, long time, so far back that he could even remember, Tomi's glowing eyes showed fear. There in front of him, being held in Link's hand was the Fierce Deity's Mask. The one thing he had not prepared for. This had gone too far, but he was not in the position to use the time altering spell again. He could only watch as Link pressed the mask against his face and began to transform.

Links green tunic became black armor, his golden hair became silvery white, and his blue eyes became pure white. Tattoos appeared across his face and upon his back was a weapon unlike any other. It was a sword that was swerved into two separate blades, then together again, apart and together once more which gave the deadly weapon resemblance to an eight. The legendary knight looked up at Tomi and smiled evilly. He did not speak; he only took action by drawing his strange sword and readied himself for battle.

Tomi quickly took his sword away from Zelda's neck and instead of getting into a fighting stance, he sheathed his sword and raised his hand, not at the warrior but at Zelda. "Calizé!" Tomi cried. Once again a green bubble surrounded Zelda holding her in once place. "Michatenu." Zelda then rose off the ground so high that she was out of reach from everyone.

Now that Zelda was out of the way Tomi put his attention of the Fierce Deity. He bent his knees and slightly extended both of his arms out in front of him. The Fierce Deity smirked at Tomi and jumped high in the air and pointed his sword right down at him. Tomi only took a second to react, "Vrrendarct!" Lightning shot out of Tomi's palms and hit the soaring warrior right in the chest. The lightning pushed him through the air and back down to the ground with a thud. Tomi ceased his spell and looked at his opponent. To Tomi's horror the Fierce Deity stood up as if nothing had happened.

"Vrrendarct!" Tomi tried again. Lightning once again flew across the room towards the warrior but before he was struck he quickly pulled his sword up to block. Normally a metal sword would not have been a good tool against electricity, but this wasn't a normal situation. The spell merely circled around the blade like a repellant and didn't hurt him at all. Tomi saw it wasn't working and stopped casting. Right when he stopped the bombardment the Fierce Deity slashed his sword through the air to shake off the remaining voltage. The few sparks fell to the floor.

Tomi quickly tried to cycle through of all the spells he knew but his mind was blank. Was there a spell that could actually help him? He had heard of the Fierce Deity. No magic was supposed to affect him, no attack could slice through his armor, and he was undefeated to this day. He also had heard somewhere that once someone had put on the mask; you could not take it off. It was the spirit lurking in the mask that controlled everything.

On the other side of the room the Fierce Deity smirked at Tomi's petty attempts to harm him. He always enjoyed getting out of his imprisonment, and it didn't happen often because Link could usually take care of himself. Even though Link hadn't fought it quite a while, he never stopped practicing. To him Tomi was just another bug he could smash with his boot.

In the blink of an eye Fierce Deity started slashing his sword through the air as if there was some invisible creature he was trying to harm. Every time he attacked with his sword a small disk would fly out of the sword and glided towards Tomi. Tomi did not know what it was but he knew it couldn't be good if it was aimed at him. His reflexes took over and called out the first spell that came to mind, "Casadod!" It was a halting spell for projectiles. The disk kept flying on as if nothing had happened.

"Uh-oh," Tomi whispered. Before he could jump out of the way the small disk flew past Tomi but not before cutting across his stomach and making a long slit that flowed with blood. Tomi looked up to see that a dozen more energy disks were drifting towards him. They were too close to avoid and so all he could do was stand there.

Pain radiated throughout Tomi's body. He was bleeding all over. His robe was in tatters too. Tomi fell to his knees and looked at Fierce Deity who looked back at him. "Mititjen!" Tomi cried. This was a restriction spell that bound the victim in invisible ropes and tied him to the ground. Tomi's hands began to glow white and shot a similar colored vapor. Before the attack got even close to Fierce Deity he but his own hand up and grabbed the vapor as if it were a ball. He quickly threw right back at Tomi that hit him square in the chest. Tomi was thrown onto his back and spread out like a star. He could no longer move his arms and legs, he was helpless.

Fierce Deity walked up to his captive and looked down on him with his mocking smirk. Without a word he pointed his sword so the tip was directed right at Tomi's heart. This would be one of the easiest kills the Fierce Deity would have ever had, even simpler than that pathetic fiend Majora.

"Link, can you hear me? You must break away from the Fierce Deity. You must not let him kill me!" Tomi pleaded into the air, he only hoped that Link was somewhere that he could still watch what was happening. The Fierce Deity's chest began moving up and down rapidly as if he was laughing, but no sound came out.

"So sorry," the Fierce Deity said, his voice was so raspy and deep it seemed demonic, "but Link can not hear you at the moment. But I promise, right after I kill you I will go back to my original state." With that he raised his sword a little higher preparing to strike.

"I'm sorry," Tomi said so quietly that it was almost inaudible. Fierce Deity smirked again.

"Why is that?" He asked calmly. Without responding with some cheesy, threatening comment Tomi gathered all of his internal energy to the center of his body. His body looked as if it was on fire, but really it was just a white aura that became brighter and brighter with each moment passing. His eyes lost their yellow shine and were replaced by two blinding lights. His whole body illuminated the room so brightly it was as if the castle was pitch black before.

Fierce Deity laughed again, "What ever you try, it will fail. I am far stronger than you." Tomi did not speak. It was as if he could not hear, but he could, he just couldn't respond yet…he was so close.

There. Finally he felt them combine into one. Tomi was glowing so brightly the Fierce Deity was starting to wince. Zelda and the King had already been shielding their eyes for quite a while. Tomi finally spoke, "You're right, I am weaker than you. There is no doubt about that," Tomi paused and smiled up at the dark knight, "but you aren't stronger than all of us put together."

Fierce Deity raised an eyebrow and that's all he had time for. Suddenly the raging, flaming, white aura surrounding Tomi gathered itself into a sphere that hovered above his body. Without a command of any sort, the ball of fiery energy shot right into the Fierce Deity. The warrior was thrown all the way across the throne room, hitting the wall that was keeping the King captive.

Tomi lay there with labored breathing and coughing madly. He was so out of energy he could hardly move. This was normal though, in a few moments his energy would return, not to the degree that it was but enough so he could stand.

The Fierce Deity lay unconscious on his stomach. That spell was more than he had ever anticipated. His body was drained of power and even if he became conscious again, he would not have the strength to move. Slowly the black armor deteriorated, the swerved sword disappeared, the tattoos faded, and his silver hair was once again filled with golden blonde color.

Link lay on the ground a few feet from his sword that he had lost not too long ago. When he woke up, moved his shaky hands onto the ground and pushed himself up. He went into sitting position and looked around. When he saw Tomi, he felt an urge to stand but his legs were still not functioning. He watched as Tomi freed himself and stood.

Tomi was standing, not completely sure of his legs. He did not bother to look for the Fierce Deity; he could no longer feel the great power of the mask. He felt the penetrating feeling of being watched and most likely it was Link who had already awoken. Tomi looked up at Zelda who was still in her little prison. Tomi had an idea. It was risky, but necessary.

"Tudu-aruya," Tomi whispered. He slowly rose off the ground and kept climbing until he was side by side with Zelda. He looked at her. She had such fear in her eyes that he almost felt uneasy. He drew his sword and put it into his left hand. With his right hand he waved it over the green sphere. It flickered until it completely faded away. Even though the barrier was gone, Zelda still hovered next to Tomi. Tomi swung the sword above his head and held it there in a gesture that meant, "If you move, I will strike."

Tomi looked right into Zelda's eyes and smiled. He did not smile wickedly, he just smiled. "Let's see how well your hero can fight if you are dead," Tomi said. He drew back his arm a bit more and readied to move.

But before Tomi did have a chance to even lay a finger on Zelda, an arrow was shot right through Tomi's left shoulder. The pain knocked Tomi off balance and he dropped his sword, but he still floated. Tomi turned to see Link, up on one knee with his bow out. Link quickly reloaded with another arrow and let it fly. The second arrow ruptured Tomi's abdomen. Tomi was knocked off balance by the impact and he fell to the ground, defeated.

Since there was nothing to hold Zelda, she began to fall too. She screamed and tried to ready herself for a painful impact, but none came.

End of Part 3