Chapter 36: The Battle of Death Mountain
Storm reared and gave a loud neigh as Ganondorf pulled on his reins. His front hooves landing hard on the uneven ground, scaring the horses that pulled the wagon before them.
"Stop," Ganondorf commanded the wagondriver.
"What is happening, my king?" Aveila, the driver, asked as she pulled on the bridle. Her horses snorted and stomped until they stopped. One of Aveila's daughters soothed the horses with soft words. Behind them, wagons and riders shouted curses at the disruption. On the narrow mountain passes this may delay the entire supply train. But it could not be helped.
"I need you to set up my tent, now."
"But," the driver started, glancing up toward the top of the mountain. "Of course, King Dragmire." She jumped from the driver's seat, shouted for a few others to help her, and ran to the back of the wagon. Together they yanked the tent free from the various barrels and boxes they carried. The daughter found a piece of flat ground nearby, and the others went to construct it.
A few of the wagons managed to move around them, along with the warriors left to guard the baggage train. Many stopped, clearly confused as to what was happening. It must look insane, all knew the battle would start today. They needed to reach a position of safety. And yet here was their king slowing them for a foolish request. This is why Nabs keeps calling me mad.
Gan dismounted Storm and went to the back of the wagon. Pulling himself up, the wood creaked beneath his weight. He shifted through the supplies until he found the box of enchanted Deku wood.
"What's that?" came a child's voice.
Gan turned to see the one that Bethe had taken beneath her shield. The voe that tried to kill him only a few days before. Most children had the good sense to hide, or at least quiver in fear, after the thrashing Gan gave him. But evidently, not this one. The child possessed the self-preservation instincts of a drunk cucco.
KILL HIM. KILL HIM NOW. CUT HIM DOWN AND STICK HIS HEAD ON A PIKE.
Gan closed his eyes and forced that part of his soul away. The same feeling, he had when he first laid eyes on the child. The feeling of hate so strong it made him stop in the middle of a speech. Twice in the fight he needed to pull his strikes not to kill him outright.
When he opened his eyes again, the boy had gotten onto the wagon. His hands reaching for the box.
"None of your business, assassin." Ganondorf stood up and took the box well outside the boy's reach.
He could still do it. Summon his sword and follow what his instincts demanded. How good it always felt to give in. To let go and follow those impulses. "Don't you have work?"
The boy puffed his chest out and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Not in a threatening way, more of an air of self-importance. Ridiculous as it looked coming from a child of what? Ten? Eleven? Too young for whatever this was. "I am working."
"What are you doing?"
He puffed his chest out even further, now looking comical more than anything. "Commander Nabooru told me I'm to guard the supplies. And that's what I'm doing."
Ganondorf had to hold back a laugh.
"Link," said one of the other camp followers. "Stop bothering the King." A vai, a Hylian by the look of her, grabbed Link by the elbow and dragged him off the wagon. "Sorry, King Dragmire. We'll leave you in peace. Give them lizards a good thrashing."
Ganondorf nodded to pair, before walking past them to his tent. It was a marvel how fast his sisters worked when he needed them to. It likely was not secured for a night, but it would serve his purposes well enough. "Do not let anyone enter," he told Aveila. He shut and fastened the tentflap behind him and hoped losing sight of the voe would silence the roars in his head.
He placed the box down and opened it.
"Please," the fairy squeaked. "Free me. I've told you everything I know. Please."
"Silence," Ganondorf said, as he reached around it to grab his map and demon bone top.
"I just want to return to the fountain. If you release me I won't-"
"I said silence," he mumbled the spell and let the top glide over the page searching for his marked servant. It stopped on a section of the mountain below the crown. "If you are wise, you'll wish me good fortune today. If all goes well you will be returning to your fountain soon."
"Do you mean it?"
"Be silent and let me work." He took the skull mask and placed it over his face and let his spirit soar across the mountain. His vision centered by a great flame surrounded by lizards. The massive King Dodongo lay sprawled before him asleep before the fire. At his side, the one-armed Lizalfos stood.
"My king," One Arm hissed as he fell to his knees. "We did not expect you to-"
"Get King Dodongo's attention. Now."
The pitiful creature struggled to rise. But before he could wake the ruler of reptiles, the Dodongo's eyes opened. The creature roared and snorted a bout of flame, as it rolled onto its feet.
"King Dodongo asks, graciously, what are your orders. The battle is about to begin, and he wishes to give the matter his full attention. For your glory."
"There has been a change of plans. The Gorons have taken leave of their senses and have marched toward you. They will take the right flank instead of my people. I will not be able to maneuver my army around them. What was going to be a pantomime battle will now need to be fought in full."
The massive Dodongo reared back and roared. The sound echoed across the mountain, along with the pounding of his stomping feet. Gouts of flame and smoke poured from his jaws.
"King Dodongo thanks you for informing him."
I bet that's what he said. "I shall not be able to aid you, but neither will my position allow me to aid the Gorons. I still need to draw the defenses from the Crown, and you can still accomplish this. Crush them. Put the Goron chief in true danger, and once the Crown is opened, you have my permission to destroy him."
"It will be done, great king," the one-armed Lizalfos bowed again. Though he spoke before King Dodongo roared or hissed or grunted. But after One-Arm's bow, the large creature thrashed and growled, all the more enraged.
"What is he saying?"
The lizard's tongue flicked out. Was it delaying, trying to think of a way to not anger him? "He says that the battle will be hard fought, but the Dodongo will be victorious."
Gandorf looked to the Lizard King, and met his feral eyes. "This was not my doing. Stay true through the day, and you and your peoples will be rewarded beyond what I've promised."
The Dodongo stomped.
"We will, King Dragmire, we will." The lizard bowed, and all those nearby did as well. All except King Dodongo who held his head high. It is not in the nature of kings to subjugate themselves. Ganondorf knew it well. How had he been as naive as the fool on the Hylian throne? King Dodongo was planning something.
"My other task," Ganondorf said, careful not to give any hint to King Dodongo what he was speaking about. "Did you accomplish it?"
"Yes, my king," the one-armed lizard said without lifting his eyes. "Yes, I did."
"Good. I will see you on the battlefield, King Dodongo. Fight well." He took off his mask and the world went black before it reformed into the dark browns of his tent. Returning to the map and demonbone. "That which I have marked, I call to you. Reveal yourself to me." He released the top and thought not of his one-armed servant, but the king of lizardkind. It spun along the page until it stopped precisely where it had when he searched for the Lizalfos. One-Arm spoke true. Took him long enough. How difficult could it be to touch someone?
He picked up the bone, frowned. He fiddled with it around his fingers a few times. I'm being paranoid and need to sleep better. There's no way it could be him, the Kokiri is certainly dead. And if he wasn't there is no way he'd be stupid enough to join up with the Gerudo army. But he could not shake that hatred he had for the child.
"That which I have marked, I call to you. Reveal yourself," he dropped the top. It landed on some unmarked position almost to the top of Death Mountain. Right outside Ganondorf's tent in fact. Right where he had seen the boy not a moment before. Foolish and paranoid. And I do not have time for this nonsense.
There is no way that the child could be the one he saw standing beside the princess. There is no reason for the two to be the same person. It would be an act of the Goddesses.
He watched the top spin in place a moment longer. Then he plucked it up, put it into a pouch before he rolled up the map. Then he tucked both in his armor. He felt it scratch against his chest, it'd chafe in all likelihood. But he'd fought battles in worse conditions. And if that arrogant lizard truly did plot against him, he'd need to find the beast as quick as possible.
He placed the mask back in the box.
"Please," whimpered Telti. "I just wish to see the moon again."
Ganondorf swallowed as he closed the box. He could not stand the whimpering. A great leader must make their heart as harsh as the desert winds and as cold as winter nights.
The Hylians did worse to my people. I am going to release this pitiful creature one day. It will be worth it. It will all be worth it. But the thoughts of his mercy did little to comfort him, when he heard the dark part of his soul laugh at the creature's misery.
He left the tent and handed the box to Aveila. "Thank you, strike the tent and get yourself into position for the battle."
"But we just put it- Of course, my king," the wagoneer nodded. "Come on. We're taking it down." She waved and ran to the tent.
"What were you doing in there?" came the voe's voice from far below him.
Ganondorf glared down at the child all while his mind screamed. "You do not seem to be defending the train."
The boy's face scrunched up. "There are no Lizalfos." He paused. "And that's not an answer."
"I told you to stop bothering him," the Hylian girl grabbed Link by the shoulder and pulled him away. Taking a ridiculous bow with every step. "I'm sorry, my king. I'm sorry. He don't know how he's supposed to act."
"Neither do you." Ganondorf reached for Storm and pulled himself into the warhorse's saddle. "You are with the Gerudo now, vai. The Gerudo do not grovel, even to kings." Storm broke into a gallop, without Gan needing to spur him forward.
It took him half the ride to realize how tight he clenched his jaw and gripped Storm's reins. He needed to calm himself. Nabs could fight angry and be better for it, but he needed to keep his mind steady. The last thing he wanted was to lose control now. He forced his mouth to open and his hands to relax. He breathed deep of the mountain air.
The mountain confused him. Halfway up and the horses struggled to get through the snow, and his companions shivered as they rode. But the closer to the Crown, the warmer the air became. Some snow remained on the ground, but only a light sprinkling no deeper than a finger's width.
The peak of the mountain had no snow at all. He'd scryed the Crown countless times when he made his plans. Searching for the perfect terrain for the battle. What little good that did him. Still, it felt different viewing the land with his own eyes. Stark and beautiful, even centuries past and still he could make out the claw marks of the dead dragon. The last of the Guardians, and the first to die.
A creature sent by the Goddess Din herself. Whose power was matched only by his boundless wrath. A pity he never got to meet the greatest of the Guardians. One must respect the Great Deku Tree's ability to craft the bravest warriors. And Jabu-Jabu's gift at spreading his wisdom. But Volvagia held power unlike any creature in Greater Hyrule. How long did he struggle with his rage before it consumed him?
There's a lesson there, about what will happen should I ever lose control. Even those I've spent my entire life protecting will turn on me, as the Gorons did their Guardian.
What advice could the great beast have given him? What warning to know how to control himself? Perhaps control was a delusion, and all those burdened with power must fight endlessly against the black parts of their soul.
He reached the rearguard of his army. His soldiers making way as he raced passed, giving respectful salutes and nods. They trusted him, every last one of them, to lead them to victory, to win glory and riches. Not to bring them heedless into danger from all sides. He must be as controlled as the edge of a blade, as focused as an arrow aimed true. Not a rabid brute. If he was to remain engulfed in his wrath, let it be one that keened the senses, not blotted them out.
By the time he reached the front, Storm sputtered and grunted from the effort. And Gan honed his wrath into a point. He'd deal with Darunia in due time, and the lizards too if his suspicions proved correct. But for now, he needed a plan for the battle ahead.
"Well?" Nabooru said as he rode up to his commanders. "How'd big scales take it?"
"The Dodongo have been warned and will plan the battle accordingly."
"Hmm," Nabs turned her head, hocked, and spat into the dirt. "What's wrong?"
"I don't trust them. It seems to me King Dodongo is planning something. He hates me, if I had a guess."
"It's a lizard," Dessi said. "How do they ever seem like anything?"
"He roared and spat fire."
Dessi whistled. "That'd do it."
He looked to his commanders and gave a small smile. He trusted these three more than anyone in the world, besides perhaps Bulira. They would not disappoint him, whatever happened. "The terrain provides us no room to maneuver. We need to get our lines organized before we arrive. I need my most stalwart to dismount and form a wall, shield and spears."
"I shall keep the lines firm," Bethe said.
"Defend yourself well, and prepare for anything. But should the lizards appear to retreat, do not pursue, do not break ranks."
"I'll lead the front, with reliable vai. Veterans, who won't get excited."
"Good. Next, we'll need archers. This goes to you, Dessi. Remember we are trying to make a show of things. Kill no more of the lizards than you must."
"Fooling Gorons doesn't sound so hard. And if King Dodongo tries something?"
"Slaughter them all." Ganondorf sighed. "I hate taking the reserves, but it's the best place for me. I want continual reports about the enemy movement, and the Gorons as well. If anything worse happens I will need to react immediately." And I can't do that fighting on the front lines. What will my people say? I built a legend fighting where the danger is thickest. How long will it survive with me hiding in my tents and at the rear of a battle?
"What of me?" Nabooru asked.
"Divide your forces evenly among us."
"What?" Nabs snapped. "I'm not commanding anything?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Take a dozen of our fastest riders and go ranging. Between the Gorons and the Dodongo one of them will try and pull something, I feel it. Send word as soon as you discover it." Before she could speak he put his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed. "I know you want to cross swords with something, but I need you for this."
"I didn't say anything."
"I know," he pulled her in to a hug. "Thank you. Stay safe."
"I'd say the same to you," she said as she broke the embrace with a grin. "But someone is going to be hiding in the reserves."
"Owww," Gan cried in pain and mocked a wound on his chest, but no one around seemed in the mood for jokes, including himself. He gave his dearest friend one last look. "We drink at battle's end?"
"At battles end." Nabooru pulled her horse away and rode off shouting for several names to follow her. He shouldn't worry for her, Nabooru could take care of herself. She'd face the lances of a hundred knights, ford rivers while Zora tried to drown her, and stormed castles. She'd even descended the pits of Kakariko. All on his orders. And she always returned. Bloodied, but alive.
But then she always would, right up until she wouldn't. That was the way of war. How many sisters had he seen snatched away in battle? How many faces would he never again see after today?
"Dessi, Bethe, you have your orders."
"No hugs for us?" Dessi joked. "Now you're just playing favorites."
Gan grabbed Desquesza and yanked her off her horse. She shouted, her legs kicking the air. All while he held her with one arm and squeezed just hard enough to be uncomfortable.
"Stop, stop, put me down!"
"You jealous as well, Bethe?"
"I'm fine right here."
"Good," Ganondorf placed his commander back down on her mount. "If you're both satisfied, to your posts. Stay safe."
"It's a battlefield," Dessi said between her fits of laughter. "It is not supposed to be safe." Then she tugged at the reins of her horse and rode off, Bethe a pace behind her.
Please Goddesses, I do not ask much from you. No more surprises, let my misgivings prove false. If the Goddesses heard, they gave him no sign. But they must listen, why else would they have given him their prophecies? Even if he had lost them, that must show some favor.
This is ridiculous. How many battles have I fought? Have I gotten so used to playing both sides that the mere thought of not knowing everything has me so worried?
He gave orders to the various lieutenants to let Bethe and Dessi's forces pull ahead. Within an hour the army organized itself and reached the site of the battle.
Even positioned as he wished, the field looked a mess. Had he been fighting in the fields of Hyrule, he'd fall back to safety rather than engage an enemy so cramped. Rocky outcroppings and batches of trees made maneuver near impossible. His entire army funneled into a single column, with Bethe's spears at the front and Dessi's archers behind. The horses held back and anxious. Even they knew the battle would soon begin.
The only open terrain in sight now lay covered in Gorons. And they did not know how to use it. They formed a mob so thick it may well be a phalanx. A sturdy army, no doubt, but they'd move in a slow inflexible block.
He could not see the lizard's positions, though he knew whereabouts they should be. He could not see much beyond the backs of the armies. A good reserve should perch on a hill, overlooking the field and able to charge downhill wherever needed. Or held in secret, where they could lash out against the enemy's flanks and weak points in their line.
But he had neither benefit. The lizards held the high ground, and they would keep it until the Crown opens behind them. Only King Dodongo would have a clear view of the battle. One more advantage gifted to those he did not trust. Over a decade of war, and only now did he feel doubt and confusion over a battle.
But it was far too late to stop it now.
Drums sounded. The Gorons smashed their weapons against their stony hide and stomped to the rhythm. Their beat rolled across the mountain. Its echo returning in time with the next strike, doubling each until the sound became a thunderstorm.
Louder. Stronger. Crash after crash. Until the mountain shook.
Then another sound joined them. High and piercing, the song of his people. Somehow his sisters matched the beat of the drums. So different, one an echoing pulse, the other soaring between each beat. But both called for the same thing. They demanded courage before the enemy and ally. Urging each other to fight and kill and die. But never to surrender. Never to let cowardice grip you. Even if today you would meet your ancestors, you would greet them with your killers blood on your hands.
It overwhelmed all other sounds, thoughts, and feelings. Gone were the plots and fears. Only the beat of war drums and the call of the singers could be heard. Until only one thought pierced the music.
DEATH!
Steel clashed against steel, and the duet broke. Black darts shot through the air as Desquesza called for the first volley.
Don't kill too many of them.
He tried to crane his neck and glimpse the fighting. Even in this mockery of battle, many he loved risked injury and death. But he could see nothing. Nothing except the furthest ranks of Dessi's archers and some Goron engineers. They worked on a series of catapults. Somewhat crude to his eyes, though sturdy in construction. Small as far as catapults go. Not designed for bashing down castle walls, but instead hurling rocks at enemy infantry.
More trouble than they're worth, in Gan's experience. He'd used them a few times in the last war, almost exclusively when facing a fortified Hylian camp. But for most battles they took too long to deploy and aim. He preferred trusting his cavalry's arrows to disrupt Hylian formations. Stay mobile and free to engage and retreat as needed.
But this was not the terrain for hit and run tactics. Perhaps Darunia had the right of it. Or at least, he would if he had taken his proper position on the left.
The Gorons set the catapults and calculated the projectiles. They seemed well trained and organized, which was a welcome surprise. The only part of the Goron army that appeared disciplined in any way. They piled black rocks into the steel buckets of each catapult. And the care they took loading their machines seemed impossible for their clumsy oversized hands.
Though part of their preparation confused Gan. A bit of cord dangled off the black rocks, tying them all together. Why would that be necessary? Having the rocks spread out when flung would cover a wider area.
A Goron with blackened scars covering half his body came forward with a torch. Every other engineer stepped well away, except for one holding the releasing rope. The scarred Goron lit the end of the cord that tied the black rocks and shouted. The arm of the catapult flung forward, its cargo flying over the Goron army and out of Ganondorf's sight.
The earth shook.
A great black cloud burst above the sky. And then came the noise. A bursting swell that made even the drums of the Gorons sound quiet.
The mountain is erupting!
Storm reared and gave a loud cry as Ganondorf tried to pull him back down.
"What was that?" one of the soldiers behind him shouted.
He almost sounded a retreat, to try and run back down the mountainside. One cannot fight a volcano. But that would be folly, this close to the summit they would never escape.
But the Gorons did not move. And when he looked again to the black cloud, he saw it started to disperse. It wasn't coming from the top of the volcano at all, but just ahead of the Gorons. Where the Lizalfos force should be.
The engineers loaded another of their catapults and lit the cord. Once more the black stones flung into the air and landed in great bouts of flame and smoke. Shaking the mountain and deafening those too near its impact.
"That is Darunia's new weapon?" Ganondorf whispered as he watched the Gorons load more of the black stones. "They're going to bring the mountain down on us. Mulli!"
"Yes, my king?" the vai said as she brought her horse to him, still averting her eyes.
"I need you to get to Chief Darunia, tell him he's going to cause an avalanche or crack the mountain wide open. You must get him to stop."
"I won't fail you again." she said as she spurred her horse out onto the open fields between the reserves and the Gorons.
Storm sputtered as another burst of fire and smoke came from the mountainside. "Calm boy," Gan rubbed at his neck. "Calm." But the horse was spooked, and not just his. All the horses scraped and stomped. Straining against their reins, desperate to escape this dangerous new noise. And by the look of his soldiers many of them wished to let their horses take them away.
Even the bravest soldiers in the world know fear in the face of some new and unknown danger. He would need to fix that.
"Would you look at that, sisters!" Gan called over his shoulder to his people. "It looks like our allies have the battle well in hand! I'll have to get me some of that new weapon!" He let his laugh carry far. Hoping his confidence spread to those whose hearts were shaken. "Easiest battle we'll ever have to fight!"
It seemed to work, a few of them started to laugh with him. Then someone far into the middle of the army started to sing. A high and loud voice, it wasn't pretty or well trained. It wasn't on any consistent key. But the voice was strong and sang a marching tune every soldier knew.
They stole our lives and waters, while feasting on sweet plum
Now they tremble before us, for now the desert has come.
Now the desert has come.
We broke their backs at Satori, raided across their field.
Took down their stone towers, shattered weapons that they wield.
But still they laughed and mocked us, offering not a crumb
Now they tremble before us, for now the desert has come.
Now the desert has come!
From that one voice another joined the tune, then another and another, until half the reserves sang in a jumbled mess. Each of them singing or screaming to their own tempo and the words became indistinguishable. It was beautiful. Decades ago, his mothers forced him to learn the organ. They told him music was just another kind of magic that he must master. And as in most things, they were right. As the voices rose over the battle, what else could you call that feeling of power, but magic?
At the battle's end, I'm going to promote whoever began the chant.
Mulli appeared from the Goron lines, racing down the mountainside. When she reached him, she was so pale Gan first worried she might be freezing.
"What did he say?"
"I'm sorry, my king." She was not cold, she was afraid. Unable to even meet his eye. "I couldn't think of-"
"Mulli, look at me."
The young warrior needed to steady herself before she looked up. She shook. How many times had they fought side by side? He remembered when he first met this poor vai without a weapon or a clan. And invited her to his army. And two years later when he offered her to join his guard. She cried tears of joy. And now a glance from him and she turned into this quivering mess. Why had he done this to her? "What did Darunia say, exactly."
"He said, there is not enough snow to cause an avalanche. And that he would not presume to tell you how to hide from the desert sun, so do not tell him what his mountain can take."
Ganondorf let out a breath in a low angry growl. "When this battle is done, I may kill this Chief of the Gorons myself. Even if this brings the wrath of the mountain on me, it will be worth it. Thank you, Mulli."
"But I failed."
"I should not have given you an impossible task. Even Queen Zelda had trouble convincing these stone-minded buffoons of anything. Now make sure your horse is rubbed down in case we need to ride."
"Thank you, my king. But, there is something more."
"Of course there is. Go on."
"Darunia was near the front of the conflict, I saw the Lizalfos army, as much of it as I could."
"How are they handling… that," he waved at the catapults, while the Gorons pulled the arms down for the next load of their new weapon.
"Not well, but that's not the point. I looked for him, he's hard to miss, but King Dodongo is not on the field."
"What?"
"I asked if he had been struck by the catapults, but the Gorons had not seen any sign of a Dodongo his size. And only a handful of Dodongo at any size."
What was that monster plotting?
"Take a breath, Mulli. You did all I could hope for." Scowling he reached into his breastplate and fished around for the small pouch he tucked inside hours before. Dismounting Storm he found a flat piece of ground, or as close as he could get on the rugged mountain. Wiping off the thin dust of snow he placed the map down and cast his spell.
The bone circled around the mountain before it stopped at the peak. "Right where he should be." Gan muttered as he looked around the battlefield, not that he could see anything. He picked up the top and map and stuffed them back into the pouch. Perhaps the ground was not as even as he hoped?
The earth shifted beneath his feet again, nearly sending him to his knees. He steadied himself and looked to the battle and glowered at the explosion, but there was no new burst of black smoke. And all the catapults still held the black stones.
Ganondorf let out a long breath. Something was wrong. No, there were a dozen things wrong, but something right in front of him.
He puffed out his cheeks and blew. His breath did not create a gray mist on the air.
Was it getting hotter? They were close to the heat of the Crown, but there was still snow on the ground.
No. There had been. But now the thin white powder dissolved, revealing the barren dead grass and mud.
"What is going on?" He knelt down and pressed his hand against the ground. It shifted again. Pebbles slid about his boots and a slap of mud fell off one of the larger rocks to his side. The ground felt warm. Hotter than the air. They had done it. The Gorons awoke the mountain!
One of his reserves screamed. Before her the ground swelled. Soldiers broke formation as the earth expanded into a massive bubble of pebbles and dirt. Like boiling water over a fire.
"Get back!" Ganondorf shouted. He ran toward the swollen ground, calling forth his magic.
But he could not run fast enough. The Gerudo standing closest to the growing mound disappeared in a spout of flame and dirt. A rock the size of a fist smashed into Ganondorf's breastplate and sent him tumbling backward.
He put his hand on the ground to help himself stand, only to feel the heat radiating beneath him. The ground grew, pushing him almost to his feet. With that momentum, he sprang forward and whirled around. Calling the Sword of the Gerudo Kings to his hand. He raised the massive enchanted blade before himself and braced behind it.
The second bubble of earth exploded, sending stone and flame all around him.
Screams of the dying surrounded him. Punctuated by the scraping grind of the ground heaving and collapsing in on itself.
"Cover!" He tried to give orders, but he did not know if any could hear him. "Take cover!"
From the first of the holes came a puff of red flame. This is it. Lava. An enemy I can't outrun and can't out fight. But perhaps he could slow it. With the right spell he may be able to let some of his army retreat.
But it was not molten stone that rose from the hole. A green snout poked from the earth, followed by a pair of massive claws. They tore at the sides of the hole until the rest of the beast fit through. The Dodongo joined the battle.
The monsters burst from the ground, dragging their scaly mass from the holes and belching fire. Devouring or setting ablaze any Gerudo, dead or wounded from the ruptured earth.
"Defend yourselves!" Ganondorf ran toward the nearest of the beasts. The great lizard met his eye, snarled, and raised its claws swiping down at him. Big and strong, but slow and clumsy. Ganondorf ducked beneath the strike and stepped wide. Twisting around the creature he swung his sword down.
His blade barely scraped the creature's hide. That shouldn't happen. He'd used this sword to break open the armor of knights. He cleaved through four men in a single blow. Even hacked apart a Goron in one battle. But the hide of these monsters proved tougher than them all.
"Die!" he cried as he brought the blade down again and again. Weaving his blows between the snapping of jaws and slashing of claws. Every strike hitting the exact point of the last. He did not stop until the limb severed and the creature squealed as it died.
THEY ALL DESERVE DEATH. KILL THEM. KILL THEM!
And for once, Ganondorf knew that dark part of him was right. This was no mistake. The tunnels must have taken days to build, even for creatures as strong as Dodongo. King Dodongo had been planning to move against him, all this time.
He called witch-fire to surround his blade. "Storm!" The great black horse appeared from the smoke. Racing toward him, only slowing for Gan to hoist himself into his saddle.
"For the Gerudo!" he shouted above the crackling of flame and wails of death. Storm darted around the now broken Gerudo lines. Weaving through the crowd, bringing him to each of the great beasts. The mount knew even to circle around them, granting Gan enough time to strike. Each attack landing with the force of Storm's charge along with the might of Ganondorf's arm. "With me, my sisters! With me!"
Someone gave a piercing scream. He knew that voice. Mulli. It had to be Mulli. When he found her, he did not believe what he saw. Burns covered her right arm, and half her side. It did not look like the arm would ever be useful again. But still she fought, spear in her weak left hand and thrusting her weapon down one creature's throat.
Red and orange spewed from the Dodongo's wounded maw. Mulli screamed again and pushed the spear deeper. The flames leaped up the length of wood.
Ganondorf slammed his sword down with all his might. The head of the beast struck the ground, cutting off its flames, and shattering the weapon still in its jaws. "Run!" he shouted as the beast clawed at Mulli, too wounded, too slow to get out of the way.
He leaped off Storm and landed hard on the beast's back. Witch-fire surrounded his fist as he put all his might, all his rage behind the blow.
The monster squealed as its spine shattered. It collapsed. Its forelegs squirming as it tried to drag itself away before it went still.
"I'm sorry," Mulli whispered, as she dropped her useless spear. "I failed you agai-" and collapsed.
Ganondorf rushed to her, scooping her from the ground and cradled her in his arms. Mulli still drew breath, but steaming stone and mud covered her right side. Where they touched her skin blistered and liquefied. She must have been close to an explosion, and still she had fought them off.
Mulli was not the only one wounded or dying. King Dodongo had laid his trap well. Bethe and Dessi were still stuck unable to maneuver. Bethe's infantry out of position, and Dessi's archers would do more damage to her fellow Gerudo than they would to the Dodongo with every volley.
Is this it? Is this what losing felt like? To a brute barely more clever than a common lizard? Disgraceful, granting that traitorous beast the same position of honor as the Queen Zelda? No. No, that would not do.
"I'll fix this," Gan promised the unconscious Mulli. "I'll kill them."
One advantage remaining from this ordeal. The Dodongo struck the Gorons as hard as the Gerudo, perhaps harder. King Dodongo rampaged through their forces. He destroyed the catapults and tossed Gorons as effortlessly as Gan could swat at flies.
Maybe if he could regain control of the battle, he could still find a way to enter the Crown. With so much destruction the Ruby could still be in reach. But first he needed to get his people safe.
Ganondorf laid Mulli over Storm and got back onto his horse.
"Fall back!" he called through the lines, swinging his witch-fire infused blade at any beast foolish enough to confront him. "Fall back. In order! To the supply camp! Move, sisters move!"
He rode as hard as Storm could handle. Using a touch of magic to make his voice pierce through the cacophony of battle. "In order! Reform ranks! Ordered retreat my sisters!"
A Gerudo horn sounded. A short triple beat, the signal to march back. A retreat, but not yet a defeat. He could regroup and find his way to victory.
The horn blared again, and this time the horns of those ahead of them did the same. Bethe and Dessi had heard. Somehow his commanders reorganized their lines. Repositioning some of Bethe's spears to the back where they could defend the assault. They could push against the Dodongo. Not fast, but strong enough to rejoin the reserves. Provided they did not slow or give time for King Dodongo to attempt some further betrayal.
Then a new sound filled the mountain air. A drum rumbled over the battle. Gorons, battered and broken, carrying dead and dying with them away from the battlefield. A small pocket of Goron warriors held off the Dodongo, including the beast's massive king. Guarding the retreat of their fellows.
They were brave, Ganondorf had to give them that. And even at this distance it was clear who led this last resistance. Chief Darunia stood tall, in one hand he held the massive steel hammer of his ancestors in the other one of the black stones.
Darunia flung his new weapon at King Dodongo, it hit the creature in his face and exploded in a ball of black and red. The Lizard King roared but it seemed more out of anger than pain. Then Chief Darunia raised his hammer high and charged at the beast.
KILL THEM. KILL THEM BOTH.
His fingers twitched. It would be so easy. Order his force to charge. Ignore the losses. Get him close enough to join the two rulers in battle. In the confusion he could finish them both. Burn them with witch-fire or slaughter them with his blade.
Then who could stop him from getting the Ruby? The defenders of the Crown? Were there any left or had they come rushing to aid their chief when they saw the Dodongo's trap?
VICTORY IS YOURS TO TAKE
Across his lap, Mulli groaned. Her eyes still closed, her face contorted in pain. Ganondorf gave one last look across the battlefield to the duel of the two titans, before he pulled Storm away from the battle. "Stay with me Mulli, I have you."