Chapter Sixteen – Dethl

Link sliced at the back of the giant Dethl, while Richard hacked at the creature's eye, when it was open. Zelda took to dealing with its arms, trying to stop the flails.

Link shouted in triumph as he sliced open the threads that held Dethl's armor on. He attacked the creature's side, causing it to roar in pain and swing one of the flails at him. Zelda, however, took that moment to lodge her sword into the creature's arm at the weak point in the armor that still covered its arms. It dropped the mace and roared again, just as Richard plunged his sword into the creature's eye.

Link shouted, "Back!" as he saw eight balls of light fly toward Dethl. They circled the monster and in moments, Dethl was back to his original form.

"You think that's all I've got?" Dethl asked, chuckling. He stepped back and changed again.

This time, he was Ganon. Brandishing the large double-sided spear, he jumped back and hurled it at Link, all the while summoning Fire Keese to fly everywhere. Link easily dodged the spear, while Richard and Zelda dealt with the Fire Keese. Link ran toward Ganon as fast as he could and rammed his sword into his side. Ganon-Dethl growled, grabbed the returning spear, and smashed Link onto the ground.

Link groaned and stood up. Ganon-Dethl threw his spear at Richard this time, while surrounding Link and Zelda with Fire Keese.

Link laughed and pulled out the Staff of Nevara, concentrating on his Magical Boomerang that he found in Holodrum. The Staff bent and flattened, changing color to become the Magical Boomerang. With an expert toss and a bit of concentration, Link sent the Magical Boomerang flying through the air, hitting every single Fire Keese in one blow. Link caught the boomerang and dashed forward again toward Ganon-Dethl. With a powerful shove, both Link and Richard sliced into Ganon-Dethl as Zelda grabbed his spear, sending it flying down the staircase.

Ganon-Dethl fell to one monstrous knee. The eight balls of light circled around Ganon-Dethl and with a flash, he was once again returned to his normal form.

"Fine," he growled. "I'll fight you like this."

Instantly, his two wings exploded outward in a rush of feathers. The two powerful appendages lifted him into the air, well above the three fighters.

"Link, any ideas?" Richard shouted, trying to be heard over the roar of the wind that the Siren's wings were making.

"I'll pump him full of arrows," Link shouted back, turning the Magical Boomerang back into the Staff of Nevara and into a Bow, "and you two do the slicing and dicing when he lands!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Zelda shouted.

Link aimed the Bow at the flying Siren and shot an arrow. Dethl, however, was expecting that sort of trick and easily dodged it. However, Dethl had not been expecting Link to fire another arrow almost instantly after the first, and flew right into its path. The arrow pierced his left wing, causing the giant bird to screech in pain.

"Now!" Link shouted.

Richard rushed over to Link. In a matter of seconds, Link knelt down and placed his hands on the ground. Richard carefully put one of his feet on Link's hands and jumped as Link pulled up, launching Richard in the air.

Richard flew toward Dethl, who was caught completely by surprised. Richard landed on the thing's back, weighing him down so that they both dropped like a stone to the ground.

Zelda rushed forward and the two of them attacked Dethl with all their might until the siren seemed to explode, shoving his wings out and up, knocking both Richard and Zelda back.

Dethl shot upward in a flurry of feathers and blood. He was infuriated, which made him even stronger, in a way.

Instead of trying to bowl Link over with the wind, Dethl shot straight at Link, planning on skewering him with his talons. Link, however, had other plans. Jumping into the air, Link was just high enough to avoid Dethl's talons, but not high enough to avoid Dethl entirely. The two fell into a jumbled heap of feathers, blood, sword, and talons as the two tried to do their best to incapacitate the other.

Link jumped back, away from Dethl, and shot dozens of arrows at the grounded bird. The arrows pierced his wings, pinning him to the ground.

"Now, Link! Now!" Kaigara shouted, as the eight balls of light flew toward him. The lights landed around Link and Dethl, forming a perfect circle. With a flash, each of them changed.

Before Link stood the eight Spirits of the Instruments. Sarde, Kaigara, Mahri, Nami, Rahi, Ansho, Silu, Raimei all stood in a perfect circle around Link and Dethl. Raimei stepped forward, his robes seeming to shine in the dim light. When he spoke, his voice seemed to boom like thunder.

"Dethl, siren leader of old, you have enslaved us long enough!" he exploded. "For far too long, we have stood idly by while you manipulated the inhabitants of this island. Your reign is now over! Once, long ago, you declared war with us, and trapped us inside our Instruments. You were defeated by Link, but even then, you only disappeared, to rest, and recover. Now, it is over! Once and for all, we shall defeat you!"

Raimei turned to look at the other seven Spirits. "Brothers! Sisters! Return to who you were meant to be! Play your Instruments! Unlock your powers! Defeat this foul bird!"

The eight Spirits held their Instruments, ready to play. At Sarde's command, they started. As each played, the Instruments started to glow. Suddenly, they each were enveloped in a ball of multicolored light. After a second, the light shot toward Dethl, enveloping the Siren.

"Now, Link! Kill him now!" Kaigara shouted. Link lunged forward, but was suddenly launched back.

Laughter filled the Shrine. "Finally, you have proved useful, Dethl!"

In a flash, Ganondorf was standing in front of Dethl. In a quick swipe, he plunged his great sword into the glowing beast. Dethl shrieked, and the light that was around him tightened. With a thump, the air around Dethl impacted and the light shrank to a single ball of light no bigger than the tiny orbs that they had appeared as.

Ganondorf swooped down and grabbed the ball of light. Holding it above him, he started chanting in an ancient language Link could not understand. Suddenly, the light exploded outward, blinding Link.