Chapter Seventeen – Ganondorf
When Link could see, he saw the Dream Shrine around him in ruins. The single bed was burnt to a crisp. Richard and Zelda stood next to him. The three of them rushed forward, only to discover that the village was in ruins.
Twilight had fallen, but Link could easily see everything. The light came from fires that were everywhere. Link rushed forward to where Marin and Tarin's house was.
It, too, was in ruins. The entire building looked like it had been run through. The entire fence was on fire, making a ring of flames around the house.
"Marin!" Link shouted. "Tarin!"
Link heard a groan behind him. He turned to see Zelda supporting an injured Tarin. "Link… We're all okay. I… got a bit hurt, but I'll heal. Marin, Malon, and Talon are all on the ship. I told them to go on, that I'd look for you, but I'm sure they're still there."
Link nodded. "Good. Thanks. Richard, take Tarin to the ship and shove off. Zelda, go with them."
Richard nodded, but Zelda angrily shook her head. "I'm not leaving, not until I make that Gerudo pig pay for this."
Link put one hand on Zelda's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do at the moment, not until Ganondorf is found."
Zelda helped Richard hold Tarin so that the two of them could walk. "Go on ahead." Richard nodded and obliged.
Link looked at Zelda and sighed. "There's no way that I'll convince you to go, is there?"
"No," Zelda replied.
"Okay." Link turned and looked at the sky.
He was shocked. He hadn't yet noticed, but there were flames everywhere. They seemed to be shooting out from the top of Mount Tamaranch. Link and Zelda rushed forward to the mountain.
--
Link and Zelda stopped at the top of Mount Tamaranch. At the very center, about five feet above the ground, floated Ganondorf. He was surrounded by a multicolored aura. Flames shot off of him every few seconds.
"Look at me now, pitiful Hylians! I have absorbed the powers of the eight Sea Gods! Nothing can rival me, not even the power of the Goddesses!"
"Oh yeah? We'll take you down!" Zelda shouted.
"Fool princess! Watch my power and tremble!" With that, Ganondorf concentrated. With a roar, he swung his arms outward and the air seemed to explode in flames. The fire shot out from him in a wave, covering everything.
Always thinking ahead, Link invoked the powers of Nayru's Love, surrounding him and Zelda in a blue shield that blocked the flames. However, they watched in horror as the flames incinerated the island. The trees were turned to ash almost instantaneously. Even worse, Link and Zelda saw a small thing on the water burst into flames as well. The flames kept going, setting islands even farther out on fire. These fires seemed to strengthen the flames.
Ganondorf laughed. "Now the entire world burns! Whoever survives will know my power and will bow to me!"
Link, enraged, drew his sword. "You... You monster! You just killed hundreds, no thousands of people! All of Hyrule will suffer! The Hylians, the Gorons, the Zora, the Gerudo, even the Kokiri now are in danger because of you!"
"In danger? Ha! Only the Gerudo are truly safe! Your precious woodlands will soon be nothing but ash!"
Link leaped forward, towards Ganondorf. Surprised that the Hylian would still be brave enough to act, he was caught unaware as Link viciously slammed into the Gerudo King.
Link drove Ganondorf into the ground as hard as he could, dealing blow after blow to the Gerudo with his sword. Zelda stood in shock at Link's fury, never expecting the Hero of Time to mercilessly beat on another person, even Ganondorf.
Ganondorf shoved Link off of him and floated into the air again. "You ignorant child. I have the power of Gods! You cannot hope to defeat me!" With that, Ganondorf threw a ball of fire at Link.
Link rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the flame ball. Again, Ganondorf launched another fireball at Link. Again, Link avoided it. Ganondorf kept lobbying fireballs at Link until finally, he was fed up.
"Fine! You want to run away? I'll settle this once and for all!" He held up his hands and an enormous fireball formed. He hurled it at Link.
Link had time to prepare, so this time, he safely avoided it. However, he had not expected to hear a cry of pain anyway. He spun around, only to see Zelda, who was about to charge in and help Link, fall to the ground. The giant ball had hit her!
Link rushed over to her. He sat her up, all the while keeping an eye on the somewhat content Gerudo. "Zelda… Are you okay?"
She groaned. "I… can't feel my body. It's all… numb. My head… it hurts."
Link watched as her eyes slowly fogged over. Her breath, as ragged as it was, slowed. He could feel her pulse slow to almost nothingness.
"Link… Stop him… for me," she whispered with her final breath.
Link nodded sadly. "I will, Zelda. I will make sure he pays for this…" He carefully laid her down again one of the rocks that were strewn across the mountain. Shaking with barely controlled rage and anger, he turned to face Ganondorf.
"I made a promise just now!" he shouted, making sure the Gerudo could hear him. "I told her that I would make sure you paid for this, and I hold true to my word!"
Ganondorf laughed. "Pitiful child!" he shouted back. "I told you, I have the powers of the eight Sea Gods! Thanks to your mistake in telling Dethl about the spirits of the Instruments, he kindly told me, and I realized the truth! I absorbed their powers, as they meant for you to do. Now I am the ruler of everything!"
"Not for long!" Link exclaimed, jumping into the air.
Ganondorf backhanded him back down onto the mountain. "That trick will not work twice!" Ganondorf hurled a ball of fire where Link had landed.
By some miracle, Link managed to roll out of the way as the fireball exploded right next to him. He struggled to his feet and grasped the Master Sword.
"Your pathetic princess isn't here to seal me this time!" Ganondorf taunted. "You might as well bow down before me!"
"Never!" Link shouted. He again jumped into the air, but this time Ganondorf grabbed him. He floated high into the air and put his hand in front of Link. He created a fireball, then rammed it into Link's chest as he released him.
Link fell to the earth as the fireball propelled him. When he hit the earth, the fireball exploded, scorching him.
Link groaned, reaching for the Master Sword. Just as Ganondorf threw another fireball at Link, Link grabbed his weapon and thrust it at Ganondorf, waiting for the fireball's explosion.
No explosion ever came. Instead, there was a strange sound, as if something was sucking something else into it. Link opened his eyes, only to see the Staff of Nevara clutched in his hands. The fireball was being absorbed into the Staff!
Suddenly, the Staff flared red, then a rainbow of colors. Ganondorf cried out in pain as a small ball of light shot out of him. It floated to Link and a bright flash revealed Sarde, the spirit of the Full Moon Cello!
"Link!" she exclaimed. "Time is short! The Staff is nowhere near powerful enough, yet! You must unlock its full potential!"
"How?"
"There is a secret to it, one that even I do not know the whole of, though I do know a part:
'When Flame and Forest both shall meet,
A touch of Green shall soon unseat
Flame and Fire, 'cross the land,
Crafted by a Hero's hand,"
she chanted. Suddenly, she became a ball of light again and flew into the Staff of Nevara.
Ganondorf roared. "I will not lose!"
Link could feel new energy flowing from the Staff. "We'll see about that!" He swung the Staff through the air and a burst of green energy shot through the air, slicing across Ganondorf.
The Gerudo shouted in agony as the magic burned his skin. He retaliated by launching a wave of flames. Again, Link held out the Staff. The flames almost instantly were absorbed into the Staff, and Link instinctively pulled the Staff back.
Another ball of light erupted from Ganondorf. It materialized into Kaigara near Link.
"Good to see you again, though this is not quite the time! I assume Sarde passed on her knowledge of the Staff's secret?" Link nodded. "Unfortunately, the only others to know much else are Nami and Raimei! All I know is that there is a great cost to use the Staff's final power!" She, too, became an orb of light and flew into the Staff.
Again and again, Link pelted Ganondorf with the Staff's streaks of light. Ganondorf tried once more to roast Link, but Link blocked it with the Staff of Nevara.
A third ball of light came out of the Staff. This one, Mahri, spirit of the Sea Lily Bell, only appeared long enough to tell Link that the more of them that concentrated their energies on the Staff, the more powers it would have.
With the three of them, Link found that if he transformed the Staff, it would have more power. He chose the Light Arrows, focusing the sharp arrow on Ganondorf.
Instantly, a blinding light lit the mountain. Whereas a normal Light Arrow would cause a flash, this one caused a rolling wave of light that seemed to never go away. Ganondorf fell to the ground, his power waning. He suddenly slammed his arms into the ground, causing a wave of fire to erupt toward Link.
Quickly changing the Staff back into a staff, Link shoved the Staff into the ground. The flames shot up the Staff, draining Ganondorf of power, and another Spirit.
Nami materialized next to Link.
"Son of Flame and Son of Frost
As Human life pays the cost,
King of Power and Harnessed Fire
Trap forever in a plight most dire,"
she intoned. With that, she, too, flew into the Staff.
Link walked forward towards Ganondorf, brandishing the Staff as he would the Master Sword. "Give it up, Ganondorf!" he shouted.
The Gerudo King stood, trying to gather his power. "Never." He floated up and suddenly burst into flames, sending them forward like he had done the first time.
Link held the Staff high. Once more, all the flames flew into the Staff, dragging out two Spirits this time.
"We can never thank you enough!" Rahi of the Wind Marimba told Link before he vanished into the Staff. Ansho, the spirit of the Coral Triangle, merely nodded as he, too, lent his powers to the Staff.
Ganondorf fell to the ground. Unable to float, he instead drew his sword. It burst into flames as he swung it at Link.
Link blocked it with the Staff of Nevara. The Staff started sucking the sword's flames into itself, drawing out Silu, the spirit of the Organ of Evening Calm.
"You've almost done it!" she shouted happily. "All that is left is Raimei!" She, too, vanished.
The Staff of Nevara pulsed in Link's hand. Without thinking, he drove its tip directly into Ganondorf's stomach.
The Gerudo's body erupted in flames. The Staff pulled them to it hungrily. Ganondorf was shot back as the final ball of light floated away from Ganondorf.
Raimei appeared next to Link.
"Use it now! Use it wise!
Defeat the danger in the skies!
Take up flight! Wield the Staff!
Defeat the evil with a Master's Craft!"
That said, Raimei flew into the Staff.
Ganondorf slowly stood. Link could see the shock and terror in his eyes as Link stepped closer. With the power that Ganondorf had tried to harness, Link could see everything. Nothing was hidden from Link; even the riddles made perfect sense. Link grabbed Ganondorf and slammed him against the ground, the anger overflowing form him. Hurling him off of the mountain, Link gave chase and cannoned him back up, making sure that he landed as painfully as possible.
"You have killed countless amounts of people!" Link shouted, his voice booming across the sea. "You have brought a wave of death upon this entire world! By your own power, though, I will undo it!" Link held the Staff of Nevara above Ganondorf. He could feel himself rising into the air. With a swing, Link brought the Staff down, slamming it into Ganondorf. Instantly, Link lifted the Staff again. Flying high into the air, Link spun the Staff in a large circle. The Staff left behind a trail of green, encasing Link in an orb of green light. Just as the orb finished, Link shouted, "Let the Dreamer's work be done! Seal Ganondorf, King of Thieves and Dark One of Evil, in the Dark Realm! Let this work be undone, and yet done again, forever!"
Link shot upward, out of the orb of light. Using the Staff, he etched out a giant Triforce, with the stunned Ganondorf at the center. He threw the Staff high into the air and watched as it spun.
"Staff of Nevara!" Link shouted, grabbing the Staff as it fell and throwing it like a spear straight down.
The Staff flew true, sailing straight down. It pierced the orb and seemed to pull it down. The Staff stabbed into Ganondorf, causing the Triforce symbol to glow gold. The Staff, too shone gold in the night as the orb shifted to gold as well. Suddenly, the orb exploded, blinding Link.