Pain tore though Ganondorf's gut. The tip of a blade protruded from his abdomen, framed by a pulsing stream of blood. He whipped around to face his assailant and Nabooru yanked the blade out from him as he turned. In a sweeping jab, she thrust her scimitar at his chest again, but his crushing palms came together and held the blade tight. Split flesh sent blood rolling down his arms like crimson ribbons. He looked down at her with frantic betrayal in his eyes, like a disobedient dog that didn't understand why it was being punished.
Even when exacted against a monster like Ganondorf, Nabooru found no settling satisfaction in vengeance. Pity welled up inside her for the lost souls who felt accomplishment from an empty act such as this.
With a fake-out thrust forward, followed by a backward jerk, she freed her blade and let her coup de grâce plunge deep into Ganondorfs gushing chest. His hulking form tried to stand but his muscles failed him and he dropped to the gore-covered ground. Horror and disbelief crossed his cringing face. There were no more movements; there were no words, just the pained gurgle of a man's dyeing breath.
Little Zelda abruptly awoke to the commotion. Thanks to Ganondorf's healing magic, she found herself healthy enough to scream at the blood-spattered scene before her. Nabooru gently hushed the princess and wiped her sword clean on Ganondorf's cape.
"No worries, Princess. Relax. It's all over now and we have a long ride ahead of us," she darkly murmured, glaring down at the corpse.
"What… just happened?" Zelda stumbled.
"I saved both our people from Ganondorf's rule," Nabooru stiffly justified, "I'm the leader of the Gerudo tribe now. We're returning to the castle to release your friend."
Nabooru's mind erratically buzzed, purposefully distracting her from the murder she had just committed. She had never killed like this before. She had sleighed warriors in combat, but never attacked someone from behind like a coward. But it was her only option. If she had given him a fair fight, she wouldn't have had a chance. The blood on her hands seemed to sink into her heart. She felt stained; darkened by her betrayal of a man that trusted her.
Over and over, she justified her actions as she dragged the body under a desert scrub for the voracious creatures of the desert to dispose of.
The world grew dark and Ganondorf basked in the absence of light. He was dizzy and unaware of his surroundings. Voices echoed incoherently, but even they grew distant. He felt no pain. He experienced no sensations at all. Even his self-awareness started to drift away into the void.
"No…" he retaliated, clawing away from the seductively peaceful path of death, "I ... am not finished."
The mark of the triforce scorched his hand, sending a pulse of divine power into his veins. The warmth traveled up his arm, into his core, and pulled a great bursting pain from his chest. His heart started to beat again. Another ripping jolt and his diaphragm sucked breath back into his lungs. His bloodshot eyes snapped open, and sand grated against them.
Ungainly ripping himself free from the brambles, he stumbled around the desert in a zombie-like stupor, trying to remember what had happened to him and where he was. Holding in his guts, he wandered over to a freshly abandoned fire circle and noticed a camp had been abandoned recently. A small pink earning glittered in the sand.
Everything came flooding back to him. The unexpected treachery fueled more fire in his heart. He crushed the pink stone to powder in his shivering fist. Nabooru would be made example of. This was never going to happen to him again. His body was butchered and weak but his magic, aided by the triforce of power, held him firmly together with plenty of energy to spare. Anger let his mind drift away from thought and a quivering cackle overtook him. That woman was going to get a nasty surprise when she got home. He lusted for her suffering.
Zelda clung to Link's sword as she rode with the Gerudo woman back to the castle. She felt uneasy, as if their victory wasn't real. Nabooru was quiet almost the entire time. They arrived at the fortress in early evening, when the falling sun had gotten it's hottest. Nabooru felt anxious, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary on the castle grounds as they approached. Her people seemed to be running the place well, even in the brief absence of leadership.
She brought her steed to the stables and helped little Zelda off her horse. The girl was clearly just as nervous as her.
"You have nothing to fear from this place anymore, Princess." Nabooru assured her with a pat on the shoulder, " We're just going to get Link from the dungeons and send you both safely back to your homeland."
Zelda gazed up the towering woman, and saw the grief she hid behind the smile.
"My Lady Nabooru," called an approaching guard, "Your presence is requested in the throne room right away. Please bring the princess as well."
If Nabooru hadn't killed Ganondorf herself she would not have gone, but for all she knew now her people needed her to lead them.
"Of course," she replied and held out her hand to the princess, "Let's go."
The woman seemed conflicted as she led them up to the lavish iron doors. It was dark inside, and she held the door open for them. Nabooru and Zelda cautiously stepped inside and the giant doors slammed shut behind them. Only a nearby torch lit the room.
A massive silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness. Four violet lights illuminated from the figure, each where a blade had been sunk into his body. Magic was knitting the flesh back into place, letting out an eerie glow from within the wounds.
"Welcome back," Ganondorf murmured, sauntering toward them.
Zelda yelped and cowered behind Link's sword. Nabooru was frozen in place with disbelief.
"Ganondorf.. I …" she stumbled.
Ignoring the princess, he walked up and faced his bold usurper.
"Thought you had killed me?" he darkly chuckled as he closed in on her, "don't be so conceited."
His ragged breaths brought goose bumps to her skin. The air around them sparked with dark energy as his aura enveloped her. Still, she did not shrink back, but rigidly stood and faced the man inches from her face.
"How does it feel to have a man's blood on your sword and his semen in your belly?" he hissed as he hatefully grabbed her scalp, "Who do you think you are, trying cheat the life out of me? I'm not just any man, you know. I've been granted absolute power from the Gods."
His lips brushed against her ear as he whispered, "And you're nothing but a pitiful whore to me."
He shoved her to the ground and bent her body into a bow. She cringed and numbly resisted.
"You have chosen this path, Nabooru, and as pathetic as you are, I will still take joy from your pain." he bitterly spat.
Shying away, Zelda noticed a small cage next to the throne. A young girl was peering out from the bars.
"Link?" Zelda whispered, and ran toward her.
"You made a pleasant concubine," Ganondorf remarked, summoning a powerful curse from his magic, "But perhaps you would be more useful to me as a warning to future traitors."
He reached down and took hold of her head with his glowing hands. Her flesh solidified into stone beneath his touch, like water to ice. The coldness blistered and Nabooru let out one last anguished cry before the curse spread throughout her entire body, reducing her to a lifeless statue. Ganondorf smiled and felt avenged. Her terror was frozen in marble for the world to see.
As soon as Link saw Zelda emerge from the darkness, she unlocked the cage and raced to meet her. They were almost together, but suddenly Zelda was jerked back by Ganondorf's monstrous hand.
"Catch!" Zelda screamed, and tossed the sword to Link's feet.
Ganondorf released the princess and drew his massive sword.
"I don't have to kill you girls to extract your triforce shards, but I will if you resist me," Ganondorf explained, "I have no patience for your trivial struggling any longer."
He waited for the girls to make their choice. If she attacked, he would not hold back his wrath from them. He was too close to ultimate power to fool around with the girls anymore.
Zelda and Link exchanged glances. The princess nodded and the hero poised to fight. She was proud to be a respectable warrior again. This was what she had been waiting for. Vengeful righteousness swelled inside her. All of the degrading sexual tortures, physical abuse, and manipulation, built up the power behind her first strike. Her sword crashed down at the jewel on his forehead. He barely blocked it just in time. Her newfound strength surprised him. She whipped around and attacked again. Ganondorf parried the blow and leaned his face down to hers as they crossed swords.
"I've enjoyed our time together," he teased.
She broke the parry and frantically jabbed at him over and over again, until she finally managed to land a trivial blow on his side. Pain riled up anger inside him and he lurched a kick forward, sending the girl tumbling across the floor.
He loomed over her. Link's dress had scrunched up to her arms, leaving her bruised naked body exposed from the chest down. Ganondorf felt himself growing again as he stared at her small breasts. She was beautiful to him. He longed to feel her on the inside. His heavy sword hovered over the girl, moments away from a killing blow. Her blue eyes locked with his. Strangely, he felt self-disgust worm inside of him, wrestling with his arousal. Was this empty, lust-driven violence all he had inside him? Hesitation left him venerable and Link seized the opportunity to spring up and jab her sword deep into his heart.
A slow bellowing howl escaped him as he crashed down on all fours over her, blood pouring out of him yet again. He took swift, sharp breaths to manage the pain.
"It won't end like this," he growled, dragging his shaky hand up to her naked body to her tiny face. He summoned the power of his triforce to heal him, only to see it's glow extinguish before his eyes.
Deserted by everything and left to die, the reckoning of his defeat overtook him. Disbelief made him shudder. He used the last of his mortal strength to rise to his feet face his empty throne. Life rapidly slipping out of him, he felt unexpected regret. The recoil of his deeds had finally caught up to him, leaving only a cold loneliness in its wake.
Still, one merciful soul stood with him. Link solemnly kept her steady gaze locked with his, freeing him from his solitude as life passed from body. With unexpressed gratitude, Ganondorf silently released himself into the peace of death. His dark aura faded, leaving his corpse still standing tenaciously on its feet.
His dark aura dissipated and warm evening light poured in through the windows. It warmed the soft reanimated flesh of Nabooru as she lay sleeping on the floor. Gaondorf's curse had lifted and dissolved into nothingness.
"Is it really over?" Zelda asked, breaking the moment of silence.
Lacking suitable words, Link turned to the princess and silently bowed to her. Alone in the room, the princess reached down and rested her hand on her hero's shoulder. Zelda felt so safe in the girl's company she never wanted to leave her.
"Thank you, Link." She said modestly. The hero smiled at her with sincerity and took her hand protectively in hers. Then Zelda was sure that this was the hero the she had been waiting for after all.