Chapter 12 - The
Hardest Battle
Darkness and Light will meet at last.
In the dawn a red sun will rise.
A battle about life or death.
Now the day has come for the blood to stream.
Bow before a war between the good and evil!
The two armies mustered up their forces, organizing them
into attack position. The long ranks of warriors of both good and evil waited
for their leaders’ command. The sun parted the clouds, as Link unsheathed his
blade. But this was not his ordinary sword, but the legendary blade of evil’s
bane, the mythical Master Sword! The sword would only answer its master’s call
and appear in his hand with a magical glow. This was something Link had learnt
since he returned it to the pedestal. It was very convenient, seeing that he
could always call the sword to him in times of need. He held it high into the
air, hearing the cries of battle from the allied races behind him. Ganondorf smiled from a distance. ‘Impressive…that boy has
united all the tribes…’ He stretched out his hand towards his army, a blast of
dark energy filling his palm. Unleashing it at his evil minions and beasts, he
made them become stronger, bigger and more lustful to see the spill of blood on
the ground. ‘He may have become powerful, that Hylian…But
my strength has doubled since we met last, no, much more than that!!’ A grin
emerged on his lips. He knew he was superior over the allied races. Looking at
them, one could see they had never been to battle before, unlike the elder
ones. The elders had seen many battles, but were too weak and old to swing a
sword or thrust a spear. The younger offspring, who was going to fight in this
war, didn’t have the experience. They would fall like fire through water.
Zelda, unsheathing her blade as well, heard yet another
array of cries. She was ready. Her people were ready. Link made Epona rear, his sword in front of him, pointing at Ganondorf, reflecting the fallen light. With his strongest
battle cry, Link rode forward, the rest following him. Ganondorf
commanded his forces, him himself riding forward. The two sides rode and ran
towards the same direction, leaving deep tracks in the snow. Quickly, blood started to flow. Swords
clashing, armor breaking was heard among the turmoil.
Screams and bones being cracked. But Link didn’t hear his army screaming, he
was too busy taking care of the evil wolfos or dark
griffons attacking him. He felt his tunic being ripped by the sharp beaks of
the beast birds, the long claws of wolfos tearing
sharp claw marks into his skin. The darkness never seemed to stop, the bodies
of Zoras, Gorons and Hyrulians piled up against everywhere. Rusl,
heavily wounded, noticed that they were fighting a losing battle. He had
underestimated the forces of Ganondorf…It was too
late. The bodies lay, and almost none of the allied races were left, the ground
spilled with their blood. He gathered what survivors were left, and headed
towards Link. He noticed the fighting had stopped around him. What was happening?
He found Link, standing alone in the middle of a giant circle. A circle of evil forces. But why didn’t they charge? Ganondorf came into view, his appearance looking as fine as
ever. He had had no problem demolishing the Hyrulian
army. The armies watched together with the small group of survivors of the
Light army at what was about to happen. The two leaders’ clashed. They fought
their own battle. Ganondorf soon got advantage of
Link punching him with the hilt of his blade, rendering him unconscious as he
spit blood. He hang limp in the grasp of the evil lord, who held him up at his
throat, drooping the Master Sword from his blood covered hand. Link!!’ Zelda’s cry was heard in the distance, but before
anyone could intervene, a fire of green engulfed Ganondorf
and Link, and they disappeared. ‘Finish off the Hyrulian
forces!! Princess, if you wish to see your precious Link, follow
the shining light in the sky!!’ A green trail emerged itself against the dark
sky, lightning it up as if the heavens were on fire. Zelda didn’t hesitate.
Even though she felt she shouldn’t leave her army behind, Link meant everything
to her. Seeing the Master Sword on the ground, she picked it up before she rode
away on Aesir, who were stained by the blood of the
battle, towards the north of Hyrule, following the shimmering light. It led far
away from the battle field. Rusl tried his best to
fight off the evil, but it was to no avail. He got stabbed down by the blade of
an Iron Knuckle, and the rest of his followers were massacred as well. The Evil
had won, and so it stormed into the Castle town, flooding it with death. The
castle burned, the sky covered in its thick smoke against the lit up sky. The
city was lost.
Zelda got Aesir into a halt, the
snow flying up behind his hooves. She saw the wounded Link laying a few meters
in front of her. She ran towards him, her dress leaving deep folds in the snow,
she embraced him into her grasp, holding him tightly. Something didn’t seem
right… A loud laughter made her tremble of fear. ‘Ganondorf!’ ‘You’re not the bright one, are you
princess? While I lured you here, my army finished off your pathetic friends!
The day is finally here…!’ A flame of red spread over the ground, a ring of
fire around her, burning with high intensity. There was no escape from this.
She raised the heavy Master Sword, blood dripping from its sharp edge, thinking
she was going to fight against the evil lord himself. He smiled a grin of
satisfaction at her determination.
‘Hylian
of Shadow, arise from your darkness!’ She fell back. Link had gotten up, his
hair blowing for the wind. The scar on his left wrist glowed with a white
light. He had a sword in his hand, reflecting the fire’s flames. ‘The only way
to defeat him is to kill him.’ He laughed again. The evil in his plan had
worked. The princess would fight against her own hero! Ganondorf
jumped out of the fire, waiting to watch the battle that was going to come.
Link moved forwards, and kept coming closer to Zelda. He wouldn’t hear her
words of despair. He swinged the sword, Zelda at
first refusing to block it. This wasn’t the Link she loved, this was Ganondorf’s doing. It couldn’t be her love, he would never
hurt her, no matter how evil he had become, he had promised that!
‘Link! Please, stop!!’ She moved
away, dodging his attack, his blade cutting a sharp mark into the snow. What
was she going to do?! He wouldn’t stop, he wouldn’t listen to her. His eyes
shone of anger and fierceness, the fire’s flames shining reflected in them. He
prepared for another strike. Zelda faced it. She had to make him stop… With a
tearful gaze, she dodged him once more, this time cutting a gash on his arm,
the blood falling where he stood, motionless. He seemed surprised, as he looked
at it. It was quiet, the only sound heard in the cold landscape being the
crackle of flames in the ring of fire. Zelda clenched her teeth as she attacked
him, over and over, he blocking her and striking back, Ganondorf’s
evil laughter echoing everywhere as they hurted each
other more and more. Zelda flinched, she couldn’t do this anymore...she didn’t
wish to hurt him more…Link, covered in deep cuts and bruises, his scars clearly
visible in the light, dropped into the snow, on his knees, the red color of his blood forming a large puddle where he sat.
Streams of it ran down, leaving small traces at Zelda’s feet. His tunic was
ripped, in shreds it was, revealing some of his strong physique. Zelda’s eyes
were full of tears, pain. Why wouldn’t he return to the one he was? She was
covered in cuts herself, her dress in blood stained folds, the Master Sword in
her hand… ‘…Finish him.’ She heard Ganondorf’s
commanding voice. Link waited, still being in his cursed evil self, Ganondorf’s words having controlled him. He didn’t make a
move; he just sat there in his own blood. Zelda looked at him, into his eyes.
Was this the Link she loved? The Hero of Hyrule, now covered in blood, defeated
by the one he always had sworn to protect with his life. She had hurt him, her savior! The savior of her and
Hyrule! The future leader of Hyrule!! She was ripped out of her thoughts by
reality. She felt cold steel in her, something pouring out of her. The white
snow got covered in a shade of red. Deep red. She felt
how a wave of pain swiped through her insides, her gaze averted and shocked.
The sword in her abdomen was Link’s. He had thrust it deeply into her, its hilt
the only thing being visible. His eyes bore nothing, they looked as evil as
before. Zelda felt a darkening presence around her. She half closed her eyes,
the world around her slowly disappearing, everything blurry and unclear. Her
blood dripped over the hilt, over Link’s hand. ‘Link…’ She fell. Ganondorf saw it was time. He didn’t see this coming, he
thought Zelda would have finished Link off, but seeing as she was so weak to
him, she wouldn’t hurt him none the less killing him. But what a pleasant
surprise this was. Ganondorf had taken over Link’s
heart, unleashing the darkness he knew Link had, like every hero had. A dark side, a hidden side. He exploited it, making it come
at its full power, making Link powerless against him. He made him fight Zelda.
The precious princess Link always had had a soft spot for, Ganondorf
knew this. He had used this weakness for her, taunting him the first time they
met, in the throne room of Hyrule
Castle, with Zelda in the
statue of the goddesses and the Triforce, years back
in time, when Hyrule was covered by Twilight. Ganondorf’s
eyes shone of evil and pride. His plan worked perfectly. Before walking away in
the snow, away from the sorrowful scene that was about to take place, he lifted
Link’s curse from him. He would be waiting for him, when he was done with her. Ganondorf could imagine the pain Link would feel. It
nurtured him and fed his evil intentions more. Link’s suffering would make him
grow more powerful. He swinged his long cape over his
shoulders and walked away into the darkness, laughing in triumph.
The flames slowly died away, cooled by the cold snow. The
fire ring disappeared from view, leaving a small circle of ashes, scattered by
the wind. Link took his hand at his heart, feeling a pain sting in it, he
moaned. His hair fell down over his eyes and he sat with his legs tightly
tucked underneath him. The dark blue eyes regained their original form, deep
blue with the look of those of a wolf. Link put his left hand in front of him;
it trembled violently, covered in blood which ran down his fingers and
palm. His eyes widened, as he saw
Zelda’s body in the snow, lying completely still, a sword’s hilt seen amidst
the many puddles of her blood. ‘Zelda…? He gasped. Zelda!!’
He ran to her side, crashing down clouds of snow flying around him, he embraced
her tightly, his voice shaken as he tried to make her awaken. Had he done this?
Had he…killed her?
‘Zelda…my love...
Don’t leave me! Zelda…! His eyes became full of tears the more he tried. Yet,
she lied lifeless, no matter how much he did, her body feeling cold against
his. He wouldn’t give up. He kissed her. He felt how small streams of tears
came down his cheeks, mixed with his blood. He saw how her triforce
shone, his shining as well. It faded away from her hand.
His grip around her tightened, raising his head towards the
heavens, he screamed out. A loud long scream from his heart, of anger and
sorrow, the blood running down over his face from his forehead and his mouth,
the landscape seeming to break, the snow fall increasing. He held her head next
to his, her closed eyes seeming so peaceful, like she was asleep. He whispered
in his hulking: ‘…I failed you…I failed you!’ He held her a long time in his
arms. He glanced around him, all was white, but it was soon broken when he saw
an object in the snow. The Master Sword, its blade blood covered. He hadn’t yet
felt his own pain, of his own wounds he had sustained during their struggle.
His eyes grew dominant and anger full when he saw tracks in the white mass,
going of somewhere disappearing from his view the further he looked. He
recognized them. The tracks left by Evil, left by his arch enemy. The one who
had made him murder his love of all time. His triforce
resonated and shined out. It was like a sign that it was time for revenge for
the ruler of Hyrule. For Zelda!