"Heh, deceitful is your namesake, sir. Not mine."
"Touché," Azamuku acknowledged with a curt nod.
My gaze darted to Yasei, who had managed to stand. She hobbled towards the Triforce once more. The curse had some defensive qualities it seemed, although her right leg now bent at an angle that shouldn't be possible. Watching as she dragged it behind her made me wince.
"You never did explain though."
"Explain?" Azamuku readjusted the sleeves of his robes.
"Why I have to be the one. Can't you take the Triforce for yourself?" It had been a question bothering me for quite some time. "I won't stop you. All I care about is turning Yasei back to normal."
He shook his head. "We have already talked of this. You must be the one who-"
"Don't think me rude, but have you tried?" He raised an eyebrow at my interruption. "It's right there, isn't it? You could tap it at the very least. I'm sure it would still do something. Why does it have to be me?"
The dark sorcerer chuckled. Placing his arms behind his back, he teleported over in the blink of an eye. Upon reaching me, he tried to clasp my shoulder and when I flinched away, he grinned with blackened gums.
"Always so curious. Tell me, do you remember what became of Carter?"
"Carter?" His name brought unpleasant memories to the surface, no matter how much I tried squash them down. "But you know what happened, he -" my voice died.
Sudden purple flashes above stunned me. Portals appeared and weapons, so many weapons suspended in the dark sky. There were axes, daggers, tridents and mace. I recognised the spear and halberd from my days in the army, this did little to comfort my spiking heart. Then came the swords; some long, some thin, all with serrated edges.
"I have given you every opportunity…" the dark sorcerer sang and beckoned to his floating arsenal. "…but I am done waiting."
"Wait, stop, what are you doing? Yasei… Yasei run!"
Blades fell from the sky towards the limping hulk. Shimmering silver rain pierced skin and bone. I saw it all but my view was someone peering through a dirty window, catching sight of something so terrible it couldn't be real.
By Din, Nayru and Farore, help me. Help me. My reconciliation with the Goddesses had finally danced around me like shooting stars, colliding with the ink blot figures from my dream. Everything blew apart and ashes fluttered onto the ground.
Is that real? I don't know anymore. Tears dampened the velvet inside the Hero's mask.
"You promised she'd be safe," I babbled.
"Well, if you cannot keep your own promise, why should I be obligated to fulfil mine? And besides," Azamuku added, "that only applied if she stayed in Hyrule. And if I'm not mistaken this is The Sacred Realm."
"You. You set me up."
The dark sorcerer ignored me and teleported to his victim instead. He began to circle Yasei, studying her rib cage now impaled. With the last of surprising strength, she lashed out with her tail, but the powerful limb merely passed through him.
"Hmm, seems I missed a bit." He conjured a sword of magi-clay and balanced it on the tip of one finger.
"Don't touch her," I warned.
The scream of woman and beast cried out over the hills.
"Pardon?" Azamuku dusted off his hands. "Ah, come now, such an ugly look hardly suits you."
My nose wrinkled up as revulsion festered inside me. "I'll kill you."
"Yes, I believe you might. The deadliest magic is often fuelled by strong emotion." He began to chuckle. "Although, we both know how to make this go away."
I gathered purple lightning into my palms. "I will never resurrect the Interlopers."
"So, you doom your beloved to death? Charming I must say. The Song of Healing can only do so much. It is not an elixir of life." He ducked quickly. "Fighting me will gain you nothing. Instead, think of what a tribe of fellow sorcerers could offer you.
I would choose you, Ronri. My right hand. You have a passion for masks, yes? I could show you masks beyond your wildest dreams. There are whole other worlds in the Dimensional Realm. Think of what we could achieve together."
"More death, destruction and disaster?" I sent fizzing forks zigging through the air. "I know what I want to achieve - a Hyrule without you in it."
"So, the Light Spirits will get away with genocide then?" Azamuku weaved hand signs and silver missiles crashed into my lightning neutralising the threat. "In the end, you condemned them all."
"Yes." I swallowed. "And… I will live with that."
My vines infused with magic struck with a satisfying snap. Forcing him back gave me time to form a plan, until an unexpected clang ruined the moment. The sly fox had created a lane of shields in front of him. I gnashed my teeth and forced more energy into every strike. As the shields shattered, I could feel the blood rushing inside my head.
I need to finish this quickly, otherwise…
"In that case, you will answer to the dead." Azamuku roared.
A red mist erupted from the dark sorcerer. The material of his robes flapped violently and further portals sprang up. From these, skeletons wearing armour and carrying swords marched onto the dreamy landscape. They trampled the flowers and slashed at the fireflies. Gibdos in bandages lumbered with outstretched arms. The Stalchild from Hyrule Field swiped with their claws as Poes ran rampant with high pitched laughter and spinning lanterns.
Translucent shadows surrounded the horde like a cloak as a collective of hissing voices uttered, "You broke your promise. You broke your promise. You broke your promise."
"I didn't mean to," I kept saying.
My attention had been so firmly fixed on the nightmare unravelling, that when a shriek came from behind, I couldn't even react. Something cold and heavy had wrapped its arms around me and began to squeeze. Paralysed in a strangle hold, I could only witness the Sacred Realm become defiled by evil.
And it was all my fault.
The once twinkling skies of the Sacred Realm darkened. A foul stench rolled through the air. Sharp teeth punctured my neck and I screamed. It was a farce, this almighty spell caster reduced to flailing around like a frightened rabbit.
"Release me this instant," I wailed.
Eventually, the accursed thing let go. I staggered to freedom as blood wept down the side of my neck. "I must get to Yasei."
An unhylian moan seized my ears. As I whirled around, face to face with my attacker, I wished for blindness. "Oh my."
To call it a person was just wrong. A tangle of blue veins and protruding ribs lurched towards me. Ganondorf's minions were hardly charming, but this brought horror to a whole new level. It wore a wooden mask, but I could see the smiling gnashers that had taken a bite out of me.
"Don't get too close. Their eyes have a paralysing power."
The Light Sage, Rauru, had managed to release himself from my binds it seemed. His head swivelled taking in the chaos around us.
Well, that information is late, I thought venomously. Try doing that when you're being chomped on! Even so, I made a strategic dash behind the man. The 'biter' sought its meal that had gone astray. "What are they?"
"Redead," he replied. "Some call them the Lurkers in the Dark. They usually haunt the under belly of Hyrule, the dungeons and tombs that adventure seeking idiots frequent."
"Like the restless dead?"
His tone turned frosty, "I pray not. To abuse the departed in such a way is unforgiveable, but…they shouldn't be here." Rauru cast out a ball of flame that enveloped the Redead before it dropped to the floor in a smouldering heap. He shook his head before turning to study me. "Are you hurt?"
Watching the charred Redead twitch on the ground made my skin crawl. "He had a good nibble, yes," I said. Revealing my neck to the cool air made me shiver again. The other man gave a deep grumble.
"Stay still."
His attention turned to me. A soft light glowed from his index finger and my every limb became taut. For some, spiders made them quake in fear. Snakes, wasps and birds could all leave a person in a cold sweat. For me, it was light magic.
"What are you going to do?"
I tried to take comfort in that Rauru's energy held no malice. His disgruntled snorts, however, told a different story, and then he spoke, "I want to rip out your spleen and boil it."
"Now, now, there's no need for violence."
He waved his fingers back and forth over my neck. "Sneaking into the Temple, disturbing the Master Sword, how in Ganon did you get past the barrier anyway?"
"Oh that?" I couldn't help the pathetic laugh. From his perspective, I had committed a very grave sin. "Well, I'm a magician you see. And, heh, passing through walls is, er, one of the skills I have acquired."
"That was no ordinary wall you past through. That was the Door of Time." He paused and glanced at the Triforce. "It's designed to keep out the riff raff, so they can't mess about with the time continuum. I'll have to think of another way to lock the door now, thanks a bunch."
"Time continuum?" I could feel something stirring in my chest. The wheels of curiosity turned anew. "How many different plains exist in the world?"
But Rauru refused to explain such matters. "Never you mind, trouble maker. Right, you're done."
As I pat the wound my fingers came away clean. "You didn't have to do that."
"No," he agreed, "but as I see it, if you're willing to stop this Azamuku fellow, I'd best heal you up."
"Thank you and I most certainly will put a stop to him. We have unfinished business him and I."
The Light Sage's eyebrows drew close together. "I hope for all our sakes that you do."
Azamuku spied on us from a distance. His cocky smile made me crave a pumice stone to grind it off his face. He no longer flickered or looked to be falling apart either.
Had all that been a ruse for emotional blackmail? the very thought infuriated me.
Surrounded in a glare of dark magic and monster hordes, the sorcerer gained strength again and delighted in it. "What will you do now, Happy Mask Salesman? Still think you can kill me? Take a look around, how do you plan to reach me? How do you-"
The slash at his back was deep. I felt the magi-clay dagger slice into muscle with honed precision. For while Azamuku loved nothing more than a good speech, I no longer cared. Before he had the chance to counter, I was away in another portal. Twice more, I managed to stab the blade into one foot and another into the abdomen. His minions could only slash at thin air. Their twisted and confused expressions made me smile.
Meanwhile, Rauru fought off the remaining brutes that had become distracted by my display. For a man of more 'mature years' he had no qualm taking down the hulking Stalfo. His strength could have rivalled a Goron. Just what exactly was he?
As expected, Azamuku adapted quickly to my strategy. Upon opening another portal near his head, the sorcerer reached up and grabbed my collar. I hadn't been this close to the man since he played the Song of Healing. His anger was searing.
"Think you so clever, do you?"
We tumbled, and I bashed my shoulder somehow as we sought each other's throats. Magic forgotten, resorting to primal butchery, he scratched at my eyes. I found hair and pulled, dug a heel into his bony ankle.
"For all your wit and scheming, you have forgotten one thing, Azamuku."
"Oh, and what would that be?"
"I may be a fool," I replied. "But you hurt my precious someone. And by the Goddesses, I will end you for that."