Chapter 19

The Triforce

Zelda followed the fairy to the glade as she had done in her other dreams. The boy in green, Link, was there as usual. Reliable. Increasingly familiar. She was in no mood to dance with him as she did in dreams prior. She looked around for her father and saw at him at the far end kneeling in deep thought. Or was it prayer? She went to him and pulled on his shoulder longing to see his face. The figure fell into a pile of clothes and straw. A fake. She began to cry at the thought that she never really had a father. Not really.

She felt the strong arms of Ganondorf wrap her shoulders in comfort. "Everything will be okay," he said.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Because the Triforce is mine!" he exclaimed. He laughed maniacally, drunk with power. Beside him lay the lifeless body of her father. "All mine!" To her horror, he morphed into a great beast and charged her. She tried to move but her feet had become roots borrowing deep into the soil. She cringed as the sharp tusks advanced, but the pain never came. The boy in green and thrown himself in its path. He had a taken the lethal blow for her.

She cried and tried to run to him, but her feet wouldn't give. She was helpless as the boy slumped into eternal slumber.

"All mine!" cackled Ganondorf.

Zelda's head spun in nauseating circles as she slowly regained consciousness. For a brief moment, she thought she was waking from the fitful nightmare in her own bed. Reality, however, quickly took hold as the thoughts of recent events coalesced. Link was waking as well, but the others—even Impa—were still out cold.

"What happened?" asked Link rubbing his temples.

"Look!" she said.

A magical doorway pulsated before them, and there in the distance was the Golden Triforce. All their hope was within reach. "Ganondorf," she called, but he wasn't in the room at all. "Ganondorf?"

"Uh oh," said Link. "His sword is gone!" He pointed through the doorway to a figure running in the distance. "He's going for the Triforce without us!"

No. It couldn't be. She trusted him. Why would he go without them?

"Where's my father?"

"There! He's almost to the Triforce!"

Sure enough, there he was, close to the pyramid shaped temple. Ganondorf was catching up surprisingly quickly. "We have to get there! We have to stop them!"

Without a second thought she ran through the door into the warmth of the golden land. There was no trodden path, but the meadow was perfect. Smooth. Soft. No holes to trip her. Link caught up with her. He had his shield and a trident he must have "borrowed" from a zora.

King Hansen Harkinian panted with exhaustion. He could hear Ganondorf in pursuit, yelling periodically some threat or another. His legs burned, but he pushed himself all the more. He had to get to the Triforce first. It was his destiny. He had to vanquish this evil once and for all. Not just this evil. All evil! No more games with the Goddesses. He would bring real goodness—real peace—to Hyrule.

He glanced back to see Ganondorf pursuing, but he was too far away. Hansen would surely get there first. The meadow grass became polished marble as he neared the pyramid. The very ground was made of precious royal stone. This was the work of gods. He paused very briefly to catch his breath. He was nearly there!

He glanced again and saw that Ganondorf was much closer. How could he move that fast? Then he saw it! Ganondorf released a war cry and magically—instantly—the Gerudo teleported closer. It was true! The King's archives mentioned that the Gerudo king possessed supernatural powers, and now Ganondorf was discovering his.

Hansen raced up the temple steps. There looked to be hundreds of them. The marble was so smooth that once or twice he stumbled. Each time he saw Ganondorf getting dangerously closer. He concentrated with each exhausting step. Closer. Closer.

At last he reached the top where the giant Triforce beckoned to be his alone, mere feet away. He ran forward but a powerful force knocked him to the ground.

"No!" yelled Harkinian. Quickly he got to his feet and drew his sword.

Ganondorf stood before him. Hulking. Heaving with exhaustion. Without hesitation, Ganondorf's sword swung in a wide arc towards Hansen.

He blocked it with ease. Ganondorf was no swordsman, and Hansen had prepared his whole life for this. Hansen riposted swiftly making contact with his enemy's arm.

Ganondorf yelled in pain, but it was a fierce angry yell. Hansen readied himself for the next swing, but Ganondorf surprised him with kick instead. Ganondorf was slow, but he was powerful. The kick knocked him to the ground. The shock almost cost Hansen the battle, but reflexes helped him parry the next blow and get back to his feet.

"Look at you!" Hansen cried as they strafed each other. "Ganon! A sleeping demon waiting to vomit evil over my land! Monster!"

"Yes! I am a monster," panted Ganondorf. "I tried to fight it. I was getting good at keeping the beast at bay until I realized something."

"What's that?" Hansen swung, barely missing flesh.

"There are always monsters!" Ganondorf swung back, and Hansen parried. "Some of them ugly. Some of them wear kingly robes." Ganondorf feign another swing, and Hansen moved to block it, he landed his fist hard into Hansen's side.

Hansen gasped for air that wouldn't immediately come. Stars clouded his field of vision. He struggled to his feet and swung his sword instinctively. Then pain, horrible pain, hit him in the center of his being. His lungs finally pulled in air, but they failed to bring more than a shallow gasp. He looked down to see Ganondorf's sword deep in his body.

He looked up in shock. He had lost. He had failed to stop evil. He was good's only hope, and he lost.

"Curse…" he stammered.

"Curse me?" asked Ganondorf as he leaned in. "You already have."

Hansen felt Ganondorf yank the sword from his body and the world went quickly silent.

Ganondorf looked at the fallen king. The monster inside him was filled with pleasure. He enjoyed the moment. Victory, as it turns out, is sweet.

The sky began to darken. This murder in a holy land caused a curtain of red clouds to cover the pristine sun. In seconds rain began to pour as though the goddesses were trying to wash away this sudden blemish. Piercing the sound of dappling rain came a cry.

"No!"

Zelda and Link had caught up, and she ran to her dead father. He watched her fall upon his corpse and cry in huge convulsions. The monster quieted, and shame stirred in its place. He had killed his best friend's—his only friend's—father. As much as he wanted to embrace the monster, he cared for Zelda. He didn't want to hurt her. He was just trying to save hid people.

He knelt beside her and reached sympathetically for her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I don't know what—"

"Don't touch me!" she fired back. She was seething, angrier than he had ever seen her. He had done it. He had truly severed their friendship in a way that could never be undone. He backed away, anger returning. She could never understand. She was never a prisoner like he was. "He was not a good king. He wasn't even a good father. He was going to stop us from saving my people."

Zelda jumped to her feet angrily. "So you killed him? You couldn't disarm him? Knock him down? He may have been a terrible father, but he was the only father I had."

Ganondorf struggled within. The monster wanted to silence her with a swift backhand, but the childhood friend wanted to plea for forgiveness.

"I trusted you!" she snapped.

Ganondorf stepped back. Conflicted.

"I didn't," came Link's voice. "Not since you killed Lance."

Ganondorf turned and saw Link pointing a trident at him, and he was standing just a few feet away from the Triforce. The monster awoke fiercely. "No more than I trusted you!" He gripped his sword and approached Link cautiously. "So, you've come for the power yourself have you?"

Link made ready for battle. "Nope. I'm just here helping out a princess. That was what we said, right? I didn't trust you, but I trusted her. You should have done the same, but you took the coward's way out."

"Ha!" said the monster, and Ganondorf swung his blade fiercely.

Zelda turned away from the fight and slunk back down over her father's body overcome with grief. Ganondorf was right; he was a terrible father. The grief was not over the person that lay dead in her arms. She mourned the death of her hope—hope that one day she could mend that relationship. She cried over what could have been, if only they had reached the Triforce together. Peacefully.

Link blocked each blow with his trusty shield and thrust his trident in response. Having only trained with swords, he found the weapon clunky and difficult to use. As long he could keep Ganondorf distracted, though, perhaps he could buy time for Zelda to reach the Triforce herself. She deserved it more than the rest of them anyway.

He could see the king's sword from this position, lying on the ground beside him, but it was too risky. If he ran to get it, Ganondorf would be able to get the Triforce. If he asked Zelda to toss it, then Ganondorf might harm her. The best plan was to fight just enough to neither win nor lose. Just keep him fighting.

Ganondorf swung angrily at Link, frustrated at every blocked swing. The shield was making the quick devil difficult to hit, but at least Link was no good with the trident. The monster growled with increased ferocity. Link couldn't be trusted. Not anymore. Only he could have the Triforce. For his people.

Zelda was so lost in her sorrow she didn't even hear the slash of steel, but the tears eventually dried up and the sounds of battle beckoned for her attention. As she stood, the battle seemed surreal. She wanted to care about her friends fighting, but she had become numb. She felt no fear. No pity. No concern. There where her only friends, fighting to the death, and there was the Triforce waiting silently with the promise of unlimited power.

When she looked at it, she felt the only emotion she had left: hate. This thing cost her everything. Her friends. Her father. It was disgusting, and she wanted nothing to do with it. With a care in the world, she began to walk toward the temple steps with every intention of leaving this infernal land behind. What did it matter anyway?

"Zelda," came a whisper.

Her gaze returned to the Triforce. "Zelda, come." It spoke to her. There was no question about it. Somehow, she knew, the Goddesses where calling her. Hypnotically, she stepped toward it. Her hand reached out of its own accord. Perhaps there was something rather appealing about it after all.

Ganondorf swung again. Link blocked again. Infuriated, he turned to strike again, and that's when he saw Zelda reaching for the Triforce. She betrayed him! The monster was incensed. "No!" he exclaimed. Instinctively, he thrust his hand toward her, and to his surprise, Zelda was knocked forcefully to the ground by some invisible yet powerful force.

Link saw Zelda hit the ground, and with determined focus, he took advantage of the distraction and jabbed the trident into Ganondorf's ribs. It sunk deep. Ganondorf looked back at Link in surprise. "Never drop your guard," quipped Link.

Zelda grunted as she got herself up. Ganondorf had been impaled by Link, and for a moment, she felt relief that he hadn't taken the Triforce for himself. Better yet, she was glad she didn't touch it herself. She feared its power to corrupt. She watched Ganondorf stumble in pain. Perhaps, with him subdued, she could reason with them. They needed to touch it together. It was the only way.

She stood so she could beseech them to stop fighting when, suddenly, Ganondorf twisted powerfully. Link, still gripping the spear tightly, was thrown to the ground. Ganondorf's sword moved so swiftly, even Link never saw it coming.

Zelda screamed his Ganondorf's sword ran fully, to the hilt, through Link's body.