Chapter 24
"This is where you fall, knight!" it hissed in low, reverberating voice.
Link and the Death Sword raised their weapons. Neither charged forward, instead they sized each other up. Now that the Death Sword was in its true form, it was about twice the size of Link. It could also fly. Link was at the clear disadvantage. He could not risk charging at it now; Eivie was still underneath it, unmoving from what he could tell.
When he took a step to the side, the Death Sword turned in place. Link continued circling, waiting for an opening the Death Sword did not seem willing to give. It was content hovering over Eivie's body.
"Knight, you have caused more trouble than you know," the Death Sword growled. It wanted to give a speech it seemed. "If not for you, I would have been out of that pathetic human years ago. Instead my personality was nearly lost to that sniveling girl because of her stubborn devotion to you." It hissed and swung its sword. It clenched and unclenched its other hand. "And now I am stuck serving that failure of a sorcerer! You even let the Harvester regain his strength after being nearly powerless! You have become the most bothersome thing I have ever encountered." It flung its arms out to the side. "And now I finally am able to tear you apart piece by piece in my own form!"
A blue fireball was sent for his head. Link jumped to the side, rolling away. The fire crashed into the ground, exploding. The stone floor was left with scorch marks. Link stood back up in time to see the Death Sword's blade ready to slam down into Eivie. Before Link could take more than two steps, it swung downwards, crushing the stone beneath it.
A few feet away from the impact, Narri was pulling herself off of the ground. At the last moment she had gotten Eivie out of the way. She dragged Eivie's body towards the wall of the room, before digging through the bag she had brought.
The Death Sword screeched. "You Gerudo will be the next to die!"
It turned away from Narri and Eivie to block Ruya's attack. The force of its sword was enough to send Ruya flying into the opposite wall. While she got back to her feet, Link looked to Narri.
"She still breathes," Narri yelled to him. "I will keep her safe. Weaken the creature while I prepare!"
Link wanted to sigh in relief, but there was no time. Eivie was still alive and he needed to keep her that way. "Prepare for what?" Link shouted back as he sidestepped another blue-flamed spell.
"Just weaken it!" Ruya snapped at him. "No time to explain."
Link took his shield from his back. He would need to draw the ghost in close before attacking. For the moment it was visible and therefore vulnerable.
The Death Sword swayed backwards before it lunged. Link felt pieces of stone hitting him as he rolled away from the ghost's deadly swing. As it tried to wrench its sword from the ground, Ruya charged forward. Her scimitar got in a few good hits on its back. The Death Sword roared as it rose out of reach once more.
"You think that will defeat me?" The Death Sword raised its arms above its head. In an instant the room was aglow from the blue fireball above the phantom.
The bright flames were flung at Link. He recognized it as Eivie's jinx spell. Not wanting to lose use of his weapons for even a moment in this battle, he tried to dodge. Much of him escaped the blast, but the sleeve of his tunic caught fire. He barely patted the flames out before they burned his arm. He looked where the brunt of the attack had hit; the ground was scorched black. He'd seen what Eivie could do with the spell, and burning physical beings was not one of them. The Death Sword was indeed more powerful in its true form.
Before Link recovered from the burning jinx, the Death Sword's blade came for him. The black blade slammed into the ground mere inches away from his foot. Ruya pulled at the fabric of the creature's robes as she climbed onto its back. The Death Sword screeched and hissed as it struggled to shake Ruya off. Link took his opportunity. He jumped into the air, slashing downwards onto its head.
The Death Sword left its weapon and flew back into the center of the room, howling in pain. Ruya had fallen from the ghost's back, and now stumbled to her feet. Link held his shield in anticipation of its retribution.
The monster roared, the sound bouncing around the stone room so loudly Link tried to cover his ears. The Death Sword raised its arms once more. Link prepared for another fire attack. But, then, there was nothing. The monster stopped screaming, but kept its hands above it. Then, though barely there, Link heard a low humming. He thought maybe his ears were just messed up from the Death Swords wail, but, no, it was much worse than that.
A swarm of black bugs gathered above the Death Sword. The ghost cackled as the scarabs dispersed to devour whatever they found. Link stared as the beetles flew forward. He didn't have fire. He couldn't possibly keep them all off of him. The nightmare insects were already landing on him and he had no idea how to fight them off. The Death Sword's raucous laughter rang out as Link pathetically tried to brush the bugs off.
Then, above the hum, he could hear the unmistakable clanks of a lantern. Out of the floor an Imp Poe with a string of skulls appeared. The light of its lantern scared off some of the scarabs, but Link still struggled to brush them away. The Imp Poe made the same moaning and screeching noise it did whenever Eivie had spoken to them. The Poe threw the skulls on the ground. The skulls sprang to life, wings sprouting from them and fire coating them. They darted after the beetles, burning them to ashes.
"How dare you interfere!" The Death Sword raised one arm, its sword flying into it. "Worthless creatures!"
The Poe in front of Link screeched out something he could not understand before it sunk back into the ground. While the Death Sword struck down the skulls, Link looked to Eivie. She was laying on the ground, her eyes open, but face blank with unconsciousness. He didn't think she could have called the Poe to help them, but what other explanation was there?
With the final skull shattered, the Death Sword refocused on Link. It swooped down once more. By this point, Link knew exactly what the ghost was doing and rolled out the way flawlessly. While he spun on his heel, hoping to catch the Death Sword as it worked its sword out of the ground, the Imp Poe returned. Its scythe struck the back of the Death Sword's head repeatedly while screeching angrily.
The moment the sword was out of the ground it was slashing apart the helpful Imp's lantern. As the creature faded away with a pained scream, the Death Sword boomed, "Stop interfering, Gomess! Your time will come, troublesome beast!"
Gomess had sent that Poe to help? The dark Poe had been truthful when it had asked Link to kill the Death Sword during Jahalla's battle.
The Death Sword swayed in the center of the room, focus shifting between Link and Ruya. Link held his shield up. So far the attacks had been focused on him, but the monster seemed to be reconsidering.
It lurched back before diving for Link. He prepared to leap to the side. The Death Sword let go of its sword, the weapon flying backwards. Ruya was clipped on the shoulder as she ducked in the last moment. The Death Sword did not retreat or call its weapon back. Instead it grabbed Link's shield, jerking his arm painfully as it lifted him from the ground.
His feet left the floor and the Death Sword continued upwards. The ghost began shaking him from side to side, a pointy toothed smile forming. Link's arm could only take so much abuse, he knew that, but he did not want to lose his shield. He tightened his grip on his sword. It was enjoying waving him about too much to notice. With all the force he could in such an awkward position, he stabbed. His blade sunk in below its ribcage.
The Death Sword dropped him as it retreated back. It held a hand over the oozing wound, its face twisted as it snarled. Then it was gone from sight.
"What?" Link muttered, scanning the room. It couldn't be dead from that. There was no way one stab to the chest would end it.
"Green!" Ruya shouted, catching his attention.
Link looked to her just in time to see the black and red sword floating into the air. He raised his shield, barely catching the sword. His feet slide back slowly with the force and he struggled to keep the sword at bay. Eventually the oversized weapon rose back into the air, returning to the center of the room.
Before Link could even lower his shield it was flying back towards him. He could do nothing except block and dodge the crazed swings. A few times he tried to attack where he thought the creature was, but even the Master Sword proved ineffective against the invisible creature.
The blade jerked back to the center of the room, allowing Link to catch his breath finally. Sweat was dripping down his face, and his arm ached from holding the shield as it was hit. He stared at the weapon as it floated. With it like this, the Death Sword was invincible. He could see no way to hurt it, but there was hope. On the other side of the room Narri was digging in the bag she had.
But, before Narri found what she was looking for, the sword went back to slicing chaotically. Link held up his shield, ready for the next bout of attacks. Instead the black blade slammed into Ruya. She barely had enough time to block the blade with her own sword, avoiding being chopped in half, but the force sent her flying into the wall with a thud. She slid down the wall and onto the ground, dropping her sword from her twitching hand.
"Get ready!" Narri shouted, catching his attention. She stood in front of Eivie's body, in her hand was a piece of paper with some script on it.
Link turned his attention back the unmanned weapon in time to see it flying for Narri. Before it could reach her, the piece of paper glowed with a bright white light and then sped towards the black sword. The paper sizzled and spat out energy on contact. Within seconds the Death Sword was howling as it became visible once more, Narri's spell still shocking it. The Death Sword reached for the paper but its hand was repelled by a shimmering barrier. It reminded Link of some of Zelda's light magic, in a way.
"How dare you!" the Death Sword screeched, raising its blade.
Link sprinted forward. Its back was to him and it seemed slowed by the zapping spell on it. As the Death Sword began to swing downwards, the Master Sword slashed across its back. The Death Sword spun around, snarling. Narri's spell arched from the sword to its wound. Even though it tried to hide its pain and exhaustion, Link could tell how weak the creature was becoming. A few more hits and it would be gone.
The monster raised its free hand, summoning another gathering of blue fire. It released the spell, it hurdling towards Link. He rolled to the side, the spell exploding. Another fireball crashed next to him, the heat almost enough to catch his clothes aflame. The Death Sword chased him around the room with the burning jinx spells. Then it raced forward to slice him apart when it looked like he was tiring.
Link caught the edge of the blade on his shield, causing the huge weapon to slide off and crash into the floor. Before the Death Sword had a chance to pull away, he stabbed his sword into its shoulder. While the monster roared and pulled its sword from the ground, he swung again, hitting it squarely on the head between its horns.
It screeched, the sound nearly deafening Link in one of his ears. The Death Sword pulled its sword from the ground, retreating to the center of the room. It hovered only a few inches from the ground.
"This… will not be… the end," the Death Sword rasped. "I will not die. I am… the strongest. I am… death itself. I cannot…" It looked to Eivie, its face twisting. "You… and the Harvester… are to blame. You… stole some of my power!" It began to rise into the air, screaming in absolute fury and blind rage.
Before the Death Sword could attack, Link sunk his sword into the creature's chest, the blade running it through. It wrapped its boney hands around the Master Sword, trying to pull it out. It screamed in agony as Narri's spell targeted the gaping, oozing wound. The Death Sword flew into the air, Link and the Master Sword falling to the ground.
The Death Sword screeched. It dropped its black blade, the weapon imbedding itself into the ground below. The horrific howl slowly died as the creature faded from sight.
Link stayed on the ground, staring at where the creature had once been. It was gone. He'd won.
"Ruya?" Narri called out, scrambling to her feet.
"I'm fine," Ruya grumbled, stepping past Link. She held her shoulder, the blood smearing onto her hand. "What do we need to do?"
Narri pulled out a bundle of ropes and a few metal stakes from her pack. She pointed to the sword. "Tie it down, then I can put the talismans on."
"Why?" Link asked as he stood up. He grabbed his sword off of the ground. "It's dead." He continued walking towards Eivie. Even though he knew Gomess had survived the same way, he just wanted to believe that the Death Sword was finally and truthfully gone for good.
"It's not that simple. A Poe's soul can linger and attach to objects." She took out a stack of more pieces of paper. Ruya had the first rope already fixed in place, so Narri set to work tying on talismans and casting the spell she had used earlier. "It is safer to seal its preferred object just in case it tries to return."
He knelt down next to Eivie. She was breathing, though it was shallow and rapid. Her body was covered in half-healed wounds and dried blood, but human. He wanted to take her somewhere to get help, but he had said he would go defeat Vaati. He took her hand, her skin cold, and held it loosely. He did not want to leave that Poe to take care of her. He could not risk taking her anywhere near Vaati.
"Link," Narri spoke up. "We will watch over her. Just know that she is in poor condition and… I fear the Death Sword could try to possess her again, if it isn't already."
"You think it's already trying?" Link looked over Eivie again, not seeing any obvious sign the monster was possessing her.
"There's just… something off about her right now. Like a monster is there, but," Narri squinted and stared suspiciously, "not there. It could be the Death Sword, though it doesn't quite seem the same. I don't know how to explain it. I just think we should wait and see."
"Could you stop the Death Sword if it is trying?" Link asked, face stern. "If I leave her here, you would help her all you can?"
"Yes, just know that the odds are still against her. Whatever happened, she was gravely injured before the Death Sword left her. Even if the creature does not re-possess her, she may die of her wounds." Narri's face softened. "I'll try to help her as best I can, okay? Just go kill that demon," she said, pointing upwards. "Now that the Death Sword is weakened so much, I can feel that thing's evil," she muttered.
Link nodded. For a second longer he held onto Eivie's hand, hopeful she would pull through. She had been through a lot, so she could probably make it through this too. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for. He let go, her hand sliding out of his as he stood up.
"I'll be back, okay? I'm not going to forget you," he mumbled to her. Link turned to Narri, remembering to warn her. "A black Poe with a scythe will probably show up. Don't worry, he shouldn't cause any trouble. Eivie said he'd help her." When Narri raised an eyebrow he added, "He, Gomess, was the one that sent the other Poe during the fight. I don't know why, but he seems like he is set on helping us, or Eivie at least."
"All right, then," Narri said skeptically as she returned to fixing talismans to the ropes around the sword. "We will return to our village, with your friend, after we finish sealing this thing. It's nearby and should be easy enough to find."
Before Link could say anything, Ruya added, "If you're still going to the roof, go out the door we came in and go left. After that just go up. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Thank you," Link said. "Thank you for helping Eivie and me."
He walked towards the door, glancing one last time at Eivie. It was… just so hard to believe this had all happened to them. He could remember how awkward she was when they met, how she was interestingly odd. He remembered all the times they would meet in the castle gardens with Zelda. He even remembered Vaati when he had just been that jerk Wendel. But then it all came apart and everything changed. Eivie convinced herself she was a monster. Vaati became a demon bent on destroying Hyrule. Zelda had to step up and become Queen after Ganon's plot. And, Link, he had to become a hero. They'd been played a cruel fate, but he was determined to overcome it.
Link nodded one last time to Ruya and Narri before he lifted the stone door out of the way. From there, he went left to a room with golden statues and many flights of stairs. There were Stalfos wandering the stairs, but he continued upwards, the monsters far weaker than what he had just battled.
Eventually Link found himself in a gigantic, open room with a white, stair-lined, pillar in the center. There was already sand filling the room, covering the floor in dunes. He walked towards the pillar, hoping that these were the last set he would have to climb. Once he was at the top of the pillar, he saw a door. Before he could walk across the short connecting bridge, a shadow moved, causing him to reach for his sword.
"Knight," the shadow greeted, rising from the ground to reveal it to be Gomess. He was different from the last time Link had saw him. Gomess was now the same size as Link, and his lantern was hung around his neck. "As requested by Eivie," he said, reaching under the dark cloak he wore, "the final silver key." The ghost held the key out for Link to take.
Link hesitantly reached out, the monster dropping the key into his hand.
The ghost moved the cloak out of the way, showing that he had a bunch of bottles with him. Most were filled with something purple and mist-like, but the one Gomess grabbed was certainly a red potion. "I will personally see that the Poes are removed from this place." The Poe chuckled stealing a look at the bottles around his waist. "They will serve us well."
"What about Eivie?" Link stared at the monster as he took the red potion from him.
"Oh, monstrous Eivie will be well cared for." The ghost gave an unnerving grin. "That one is rather resilient."
Link did not know how to respond to the ghost. Instead he looked past Gomess, to the door leading, hopefully, outside. Gomess smiled one last time before he sunk back into the floor and out of sight.
With that, he had all he needed to confront Vaati. Link walked forward and through the door. He was outside, the sun baring down harshly. He grimaced when he looked to side. More stairs to climb. However, once he was at the very top of the tower, he became a bit nervous.
Link held the keys out in front of him, wondering how they would get him into the floating palace above. Directly following that thought, the keys began to glow brightly. Link was forced to blink, and when he opened his eyes he was no longer on the tower. The deep purple and dark gray stonework proved that. He was outside of the palace, on the balcony leading to the ballroom. The very same room he had left from just the other day.
He put the keys back around his neck on his make-shift necklace. Then he took a deep breath before he marched up to the doors leading in. It was time to battle Vaati, and hopefully regain Hyrule's peace in the process.
A/N- And with that, the Death Sword is defeated. Or, rather, sealed, because the story is pre-Twilight Princess. I wanted to give a reason why that sword and monster were there. Narri, I suppose is some sort of shaman-witch-something magic in her tribe, so she was sent to seal it. And that Gomess, when I made him I did not expect him to stick around so long. Well, off to Vaati and the final chapters (perhaps even chapter)!
Thank you all for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing!
MrsTippet- Thank you! It's pretty random where I stop chapters (to a point) so I'm glad to hear that's working decently. And, wow, favorite fic? Thank you for reviewing!
Ayako Zetra- Oh, Eivie... I am a jerk with my cliff-hangers and I love it. Thank you for reviewing!