Link managed to break the stem of the bolt well enough with his main hand to pull it out of his muscle, and then wrap a piece of cloth torn from his pants around his arm. He used the time spared to him by Dora's passing to recuperate and catch his breath. At the same time, he observed their exchange. Soon enough, he wondered, how could he have been so blind?
Ganondora's death only fueled the King of Evil's hate, and desire to kill. In the moment of her final breath, while Link may not have understood their entire story, he witnessed their unbreakable bond. Whether it was master and servant, husband and wife, best friends, lovers, or all of the above, Link saw what Zelda tried to tell him. Dora was, incredibly, prepared to die to defend her husband, to help him achieve the Triforce. Ganondorf had no qualms in punishing those that brought harm to his queen.
The entrance to the Sacred Realm was not yet open, his and eternal, enemy wanted to obliterate him, and his shield arm was severely wounded. Link truly felt the odds were stacked against him. But, if Ganondorf wanted to revive Dora, he needed to claim the Triforce before Link. The hero realized this might make his opponent slightly more reckless.
Ganondorf also took a moment to analyze the situation. He continued to feed his power to the door. He knew if Link reached the Triforce first, he would be locked in the Sacred Realm, with or without Dora, and all of their work would be undone. Zelda would be revived. That was unacceptable, and he would not allow it to come to pass. So, he did the unexpected and attacked first.
His speed might not have matched Dora's, but his sorcery would aid him tremendously. Link tried to dodge, but Ganondorf flung an orb of magic that exploded on command and forced the hero to retreat. He ran from the deadly magic and into Ganondorf's blade with the Master Sword. Link felt his gut sink when it was sheer luck that he held his blade up to prevent from being stabbed.
Ganondorf smirked, knowing it was Link's inexperience that would make him an easy foe to defeat. The hero was already exhausted, and Ganondorf showed no signs of weariness. He lifted his blade back for a mighty swing, and the hero dodged under it. Link lunged backward to put distance between him and his enemy.
The white blade of Ganondorf's sword began to glow purple, and was imbued with such an incredible amount of dark magic that a smokey aura drifted from it. The next time he swung it, a wave of energy sped from the blade straight at Link. While he focused on dodging it, Ganondorf followed through to attack. Link held the Master Sword with both hands to block the blade from crashing into his chest.
For Ganondorf's size, he fought swiftly, and never lost his confidence. The sword was like a toy in his hand. Even when Link was lucky enough to manage an expert offensive maneuver, the King of Evil parried. If Link tried to make a mad dash for the door to see if it was open, Ganondorf teleported in front of him and nearly cut off his head.
It was after three of these attempts that a miraculous event occurred. The Master Sword began to glow with a pale green light, and then red, and then blue. The colors swirled around the blade, and Link could feel its power increase by ten times.
Ganondorf was appalled. The goddesses were forbidden from interfering in the claiming of the Triforce. Why would they make an exception? His answer came in the form of his own divine intervention. An orange energy surrounded him. He felt the magic was defensive because his stamina increased, his energy restored to full strength. This was no doubt the work of the Desert Goddess, angered at the loss of her child. It seemed he was caught in the middle of a dispute of the four sisters. It was one more reason why, in Dora's own words, failure was not an option.
The hero and villain met again to exchange blows. Ganondorf's style favored quick, powerful swings, where Dora had used her blade as a swift tool and kept in constant motion. This forced Link to change up his defensive style, but also made it possible for him to counterattack more often.
Ganondorf knocked his blade into the Master Sword during one of these counterattacks, and Link lost control of his weapon. Ganondorf took advantage and swung to decapitate his enemy's main arm. Link spun to his right to avoid the attack, but was not swift enough. His arm was sliced anyway.
The damage was immediately apparent. The darkness infected his skin and Link cried out in pain. Ganondorf wasted no time in stabbing the sword forward to impale the hero.
Moving his arm felt impossible, so he danced back quickly enough to dodge the attack intended to kill him. Link rushed forward with his teeth clenched to prepare for pain, and slashed his sword across Ganondorf's left arm.
The King of Evil felt the smooth blade cut like a serrated knife. The protective energy around him might have completely blocked out the sword's power if it was not enhanced by the other goddesses. The Desert Goddess's barrier did prevent the blade from sinking in as deep as it should have and spared him some pain. The blade's evil repelling power forced him to stumble back as he recovered.
A new sensation distracted him. Ganondorf felt it before Link heard it. The door's resistance finally failed, so he teleported straight to the entrance of the Sacred Realm. The double doors slowly opened with a sound of grinding rock that vibrated the building and drowned out his laughter. "You fought valiantly, hero, but this is the end for you," he mocked over the rumbling of the temple. Link narrowed his eyes and darted forward, while wincing as the darkness flowed through his body. Ganondorf fired beams of magic to slow Link's approach. He stumbled and tripped to avoid the malicious magic.
Ganondorf glanced down at his wife's resting body, and then disappeared into the Sacred Realm when there was just enough room to slip between the doors.
Link, his head spinning, rushed to beat him. He clambered up the stairs. In his heart, he was giving up, because it was pointless. He already lost and there was no reason to keep fighting. He figured the Demon King was only toying with him. Horus's voice was a stern reminder in the back of his mind that scolded him, and told him he needed to keep fighting. Link did not hesitate as he barreled into the Sacred Realm with his sword prepared to defend.
Ganondorf waited for him, and swung straight down for a surprise attack. Link moved swiftly. Not only was it difficult to stop, but Ganondorf missed. Link dug his foot into the floor and spun around with his arm stretched out as far as he could reach to cut Ganondorf across his chest.
The power of the Master Sword blinded him, but the barrier was quick to alleviate this agony. Ganondorf caught Link's sword just in time to strike him in return. Each attack that was exchanged seemed to make its mark. Ganondorf desperately moved in the direction of the Triforce, hovering over a pedestal, just several yards away. Each time he thwarted Link's approach he was forced to defend, which slowed him down. The distance between them and the Triforce closed with each step, but it seemed they would reach the divine relic at the same time.
Their blood spilled and stained the floor. Ganondorf knew what would make his victory inevitable, but she was not able to offer her aid. The thought helped him fight through the pain of his dozens of wounds inflicted by the Master Sword and successfully strike Link again. Ganondorf dashed toward the Triforce, and fire an orb of magic at Link to keep him on his knees.
Link did not stay down. His mind was only on his family, the princess, all of those innocent people who were dead because of the monster he fought. He swung at the orbs of dark energy and fired them straight back at Ganondorf, making contact. It crippled him enough that Link closed the distance and stuck his sword in Ganondorf's side.
Pain exploded in him that made him seethe. He thrust out his arm to trip up Link, but the hero was already out of reach. Ganondorf tried to stand, but the pure energy that battled his entire soul petrified his muscles. The barrier supporting him and his own energy tried to purge the invasion but was not quick enough. Ganondorf gripped at the stone floor and forced himself to his feet. He shouted just to make it through each step.
Link's fingertips touched the Triforce. Ganondorf shoved Link to the side and gripped his hand around the piece symbolizing power. It was too late. The Triforce shined the golden light of defeat right in his face.
"No," he growled, breathing so heavily his entire torso rose and fell. He glared at Link and marched toward him. The hero was gone before he could kick him. The realm turned black, and the Triforce disappeared to grant the hero's wish.
Ganondorf felt the goddesses laughing at him. The rage tried to overwhelm the pain. The angrier he became, the more the demon fought to command him, and the worse his wounds burned. He lowered himself to one knee with his head hanging to stare at the ground. As the adrenaline faded, along with his shield, the truth of his wounds became apparent. They were not as easily healed as a regular sword wound. If his lacerations could be healed, it would take much time.
He closed his eyes to focus his mind and will the pain to pass quickly, before he succumbed to the beast.