"No!"
"Zelda!"
The wind had begun to whip around them once more, threatening to cut off their vision completely with another sandstorm. Zelda ignored Riju and stumbled out of the car, pulling out the other gun, but her knees shook and gave way under her and she fell to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, glancing up as Link fell to his knees, his arm wrapped around his stomach, doubled over in pain. Zelda raised her gun, her hand shaking, but her vision was too blurred for her to see. She fought to steady her hands, and though her eyes dried for a moment, the wind continued to pick up the sand around them and she could no longer see through the thick wall that seemed to develop before her. There was the sound of a struggle nearby, soon followed by a thud – the sickening, all too familiar sound of a body hitting the ground – and her heart stopped.
The air buzzed and cracked with electricity as Riju let loose another deadly attack. Lightning plummeted and the ground shook violently where it crashed. The force broke up the churning sandstorm once more and Zelda covered her eyes with her arm until the wind finally subsided. Around them lay the lifeless bodies of dozens upon dozens of Lizalfos and among them, caught in the wave of Riju's attack, were a few pirates. The rest that had threatened to attack them seemed to have vanished, retreating from the battle.
"Will you put that thing down before you shoot me?" Link muttered through gritted teeth.
She dropped the weapon at the sound of his voice. She opened her eyes to see the pirate lying motionless on the ground. Link stood over the body, his hand clutched at the dagger wound in his gut.
"I didn't say drop it," he grunted.
Zelda ran to him and he let himself lean against her.
"Are you okay?" she asked. She pulled his hands away to inspect the wound.
"Do I fucking look okay?" he snarled.
"Don't give me your shit!" Zelda hissed at him, pushing him away from her. He grunted as he stumbled backwards, then narrowed his eyes at her.
"Enough, children," Sidon said as he trotted to their side. "I can take care of that."
"I'm fine," Link muttered.
"You'll bleed out."
"I said I'm fine."
"Shut up, Link," Zelda growled at him.
"What are you doing out here?"
"Saving your sorry ass," Riju said as she strode to them.
"Looked like I was saving yours," Link said.
"Semantics," Riju said, waving a hand at him and grinning.
"And now I'm saving yours," Sidon said as he pushed through. "Hold still." He held out a hand and a soft, blue light emitted from his palm. The light brightened, growing larger until Zelda could no longer see Link. When it subsided, the wound was healed.
Link blinked at the place where the wound had been for a moment, then wiped his blood from his hands onto his pants. "Thanks," he muttered. He turned his gaze to Zelda's. Zelda hurried to him and pulled him into a hard kiss, her lips pressed deeply up against his. Link wrapped her arms around her body, pulling her closer to him.
"Oh, get a room," Riju mumbled, turning away.
Zelda hesitated, pulling away from him slightly. She turned her gaze to meet his. "Stop almost dying on me," she muttered.
Link grinned. "Stop making me save you."
"Keep your clothes on," Riju said. "We've gotta get moving." She pointed out into the wastelands. As the sun was starting to rise, they could see another sandstorm brewing in the distance. "They're coming in stronger and I won't be able to disperse them. If we get caught in that, we're not getting out of this place alive."
Link's brows knit together as he turned his gaze back to Zelda's. "Dorian has the Master Sword," he explained quickly. "I don't know how he's doing it, but he must have every one of the Sheikah brainwashed. Even Impa."
Zelda's mind raced. "What's he going to do with it?" she asked.
"He's going to bring back Ganon."
"But Ganon was sealed away," Zelda said. "We sealed him away."
"With the Master Sword, Dorian will be able to break that seal and bring him back. He's probably already set off to do that. All he needed to do was get rid of me so I wouldn't get in his way."
Zelda's eyes searched his, panicked. "Where is he going? What do we do?"
"The Forgotten Temple," Link said. "I have to stop him before he gets there."
"The Forgotten Temple?" Zelda turned her gaze to the ground in thought. She knew the place. She had read about it in one of the old Sheikah texts. "The statue of Hylia," she said quickly. "It's supposed to hold a great power."
"Dorian and Impa are in Kakariko," Sidon said.
"We tied 'em up good," Yunobo confirmed.
Teba shook his head. "He's probably half way there by now. Our ties wouldn't stop him."
"So," Riju said. "We better get moving if we want to beat him there."
"No," Link said sharply, his eyes narrowed on Riju. "There's no 'we.' I'm doing this myself."
"Don't be an idiot," Teba hissed. "As the newly appointed Champions, we're going with you. You'll need our help."
"We already lost the other four," Link hissed. "I won't be responsible for anyone else's death."
"Death?" Yunobo muttered.
"No one's dying today," Sidon said proudly.
"I don't know what you think you're gonna do, Fishboy," Riju started, her arms crossed. "But say the word, Link, and I'll shock Dorian into oblivion."
"Fishboy?" Sidon narrowed his gaze on Riju. "Perhaps you're too busy playing in your sandbox down here, but I'll have you know -"
"Enough," Zelda growled. She turned to Link and offered him a reassuring smile. "Are we going to do this or not?" She handed him the gun she had dropped on the ground.
Link hesitated. He knew he would not win this. Which only meant he'd have to work twice as hard to make sure no one got their asses kicked.
"Fine," he muttered. "But you guys better take care of yourselves."
Riju put her hands on her hips and grinned. "Not a problem," she said. "I think we did well out here for ourselves." She turned to Zelda. "It's up to you to get us out of here, though." She threw her thumb over her shoulder, indicating to the approaching sandstorm to the east. "If you can get us through that, we should have a clear shot out of this place." She leaned forward slightly and pointed towards the car with her chin. "I'll even let you drive this time."
"Great," Zelda muttered. She rolled her eyes and moved to the driver's side door. "Leave it to me." She slid in behind the wheel as Riju took shot gun. Link climbed into the back while the others piled into the SUV. Despite being viciously clawed by the Lizalfos, the engine turned over and the car lurched forward as Zelda stepped on the gas. The needle on the speedometer climbed higher and higher as they sped across the wasteland and into the swirling sandstorm.
"Drive straight through it," Riju said. "Don't stop, no matter what."
Zelda's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as they neared, and within moments, they plunged into the storm, sand whipping violently around him. Zelda narrowed her eyes in concentration as she fought to keep the wheel steady. The wind blew forcefully, threatening to lift the car right off the ground and throw them off course.
"Now would be a good time!" Riju shouted over the raging storm.
Zelda sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. She was familiar with her power, now, but never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd ever have to use it again. She felt the energy flow through her as she commanded it through her body. The Triforce on her hand began to glow and pulse, a soft, golden light. The light brightened and grew and then seemed to burst, an explosion of light around them. They covered their eyes with their arms for a moment until it subsided enough for them to see once more. The light held strong, growing and enveloping the two vehicles like a sort of force field that pushed the sandstorm away from them. It cleared an opening through the storm – a path – and Zelda pressed harder against the accelerator, shooting through the space in the storm and across the wasteland.
The light subsided quickly as soon as they exited the sandstorm and it dissipated behind them. The Triforce on Zelda's hand disappeared and they pressed onward across the desert, following Riju's direction. To her surprise, they had come out further north than where they had entered, but Riju directed them easily back to the main road that would bring them out of the desert and back into central Hyrule.
Zelda followed the main interstate north, taking the exit that cut across Hyrule to the west towards the direction of the canyon where the Forgotten Temple was located. The next exit they took off the interstate brought them towards the canyon, and Zelda cut off the road to follow the edge in search for any sign of Dorian. She sped along the edge of the canyon, praying that they weren't too late. But as they neared the Forgotten Temple to the north, she noticed the Sheikah army down below them. She cursed under her breath; she couldn't possibly let anyone kill all these potentially innocent Sheikah. Not if they were simply brainwashed.
"I can take care of that," Riju said from beside her.
"We can't kill them," Zelda reminded her. "Don't kill them."
"You're the boss," she said as she scrambled to pull herself through the moonroof. "One non-lethal attack, coming up!"
At that moment, Teba swooped in from behind them and Riju climbed onto his back. He took flight over the canyon and with a snap of her fingers, lightning shot across the sky. Teba swerved through the air as the Sheikah soldiers fired up at them, but Riju was quicker, and the lightning she commanded struck the ground with intense fury. The ground erupted where each strike landed and the Sheikah soldiers were thrown off their feet in every direction.
In the rearview mirror, Zelda watched as Yunobo threw himself out of the car, rolling down into the canyon with striking speed, plunging himself into the remaining standing Sheikah soldiers like a bowling ball. He stood as Teba and Riju flew down to the ground, and he extended his shield to protect the three of them.
Just ahead, approaching the old Goddess statue, was Dorian. He had spun around upon hearing the battle that had erupted behind him, and started sprinting towards the statue with the Master Sword in hand. Link pulled himself through the moonroof and fired rapidly at Dorian, but the bullets only kicked up the dirt around his feet as Dorian continued sprinting across the canyon.
Without another thought, and ignoring Zelda's screams from inside the car, Link climbed onto the roof of the car and threw himself over the edge of the cliff. Teba swooped in once more, catching Link as he plummeted towards the ground.
"You're a crazy fucking bastard, you know that?" Teba muttered as he soared down into the canyon.
Link shoved in another magazine and took aim once more as Teba neared Dorian, but this time, Dorian spun on his heels and thrust his hand in the air. The force of the attack knocked both Teba and Link to the ground. Link rolled away as he made impact, then hurried to his feet, sprinting towards Dorian, firing off two more shots. Again, Dorian thrust his hand towards Link and his gun flew out of his hand.
But Link didn't hesitate, throwing himself onto Dorian and knocking the Master Sword out of his grip. He tried to pin Dorian to the ground, but Dorian's fist went into Link's gut and he pushed Link off of him onto the ground. Without waiting to catch his breath, Link lurched at Dorian once more before Dorian could retrieve the Master Sword. Dorian spun around, letting another fist fly at Link, but this time Link was able to catch his punch. He twisted Dorian's wrist in one hand while the other landed hard against Dorian's nose and he stumbled backwards from the impact.
Link seized his opportunity to pin Dorian to the ground once more, pulling a knife from his belt as he did so and pressing it up against Dorian's neck, but Dorian did not flinch. He looked up at Link and a grin split his face.
"You can't kill me," Dorian said. "You'll kill Dorian, but you won't kill me."
"Bastard," Link hissed. "I will end you, even if I die, too."
"So willing to throw your life away," Dorian said. "I will gladly take your life myself."
Before Link could react, Dorian pushed him forcefully off of him, sending him flying through the air and falling hard to the ground. Link fought against the spinning world, fought against the darkness that dared to close in around him. He could just barely make out Dorian's figure as he reclaimed the Master Sword and raised it in the air, a wicked smile splitting his face. He met Link's gaze.
"It's over!"