(One part of this chapter will contain heavy gore, if you don't like to read that kind of stuff, here's a warning. I'll mark the point before the gore so you all know.)
Link clenched his fists at the sight of him. He was ready to jump at him, with his Master Sword drawn, but he resisted (for now).
"You."
"Yes me Hero, you didn't think I'd run away did you?"
"Well I wouldn't be surprised, but it's better this way."
"Oh really?" Ganondorf smirked, "How so?"
"'Cause now I can finish you, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Link jumped at Ganondorf, ready to strike him, but Ganondorf swatted him away like a mere fly.
"Tch tch tch Hero, you're too predictable. You think with your emotions. You of all people should know that emotions have no place in war."
"Are you here to lecture me, or fight?!" shouted Link. Ganondorf was right, he was being fueled by his rage right now, and he had plenty of rage.
"Fight of course, I was just playing with you, it's more fun that way, but if you like I can end it right now for you." A mischievous look appeared on his face. Link knew he had something planned, he was dealing with Ganondorf after all.
Ganondorf snapped his fingers and Link's instincts told him to dive out of the way, which turned out to be a good call, as spikes suddenly erupted out of the floor, just missing Link.
"HAH, you think you can get me that easy?"
"Not at all." Ganon smirked again. Link got up quickly to face whatever Ganon had planned next.
Ganon snapped his fingers again, and Link felt the floor beneath him move a bit, he sensed what was coming, and dived out of the way again, but he wasn't as lucky this time as one of the spikes impaled his left leg.
"LINK!" Zelda shouted.
"Oh Queen! I almost forgot you were here."
As soon as Ganondorf looked at her, Dan, Liam and Aya had drawn their swords.
Link grimaced and got up slowly, with his left leg wobbling. "Fight me like a man, you coward!"
"As you wish." Ganon smirked and drew his sword. It looked like something out of a nightmare, the blade was made with a pitch black metal, but was sharp. The hilt was fiery red, matching Ganondorf's hair, there was a ring of what looked like real human bones attached to the hilt, and there was a gold eye in the middle. The sword was almost as long as Link was tall, and Ganon muttered a short spell and blew on it which lit it on fire. This was gonna be a tough battle.
Link and Ganon moved closer, Dan, Liam and Aya started moving towards them too, prepared for a fight.
"Stay back." Link said.
"But-"
"STAY BACK I SAID! He's mine, take the Queen, get her to safety."
"No." This time it was Zelda who spoke.
"Zel-"
"No Link, I'm not gonna let you fight him alone, I can't lose you again." She had tears in her eyes.
Link had no retort to this, "Okay, we'll fight him together." Link's impaled leg suddenly gave way and he fell. "Damn." he said while wincing.
Zelda kneeled down, "This is gonna sting a little bit."
"What are yo-"
Zelda held his hands, "Trust me."
Link fell silent and just nodded. Zelda muttered a spell and pressed her hands to his body. Link's leg suddenly started stinging and he grimaced. "This is more than a little bit." Link said while chuckling and grimacing at the same time. Zelda just smiled.
All this while Dan, Liam and Aya were doing their best to hold Ganondorf off, and they were barely managing it. It took all three of them just to keep him from launching a deadlier attack.
As suddenly as it had started, the stinging stopped, Link looked down to see the hole in his leg was miraculously filled. "How did yo-"
"Healing Magic." Smiled Zelda, it's the thing I'm best at. They both got up, Zelda still holding his hands. Then as if the Goddesses didn't want them to have their moment, Ganondorf shouted, enraged, and took a massive swing with his sword that caused Dan, Liam and Aya to move back.
Link and Zelda drew their weapons too, this was it, the final fight.
Ganondorf, still enraged, took another massive swing which hit the dungeon's wall, and caused the whole place to shake.
"This won't hold up long, we need to get out of here!" said Dan. Link knew he was right, this place would fall any moment, so he didn't have much time. With a smirk he raced towards Ganondorf, jumped, and took a swing, which Ganondorf parried. They both fell to the floor, and got back up and got locked in an intense duel. The other four moved in to help Link.
In a 5v1, even Ganondorf had his limitations, he could only parry 5 different attacks, and didn't have time to launch one of his own. Irritated and angry, he muttered a spell, and screamed with a bloodlust which even shook Link. He started stomping on the ground, like a stuck hog, and the already damaged dungeon began to shake even more.
"We need to get out of here, NOW!" shouted Dan again, looking at Link. He nodded, muttered a spell, and caused pitch black powder to fill the area, giving them a chance to run. He grabbed Zelda's hand, and motioned to the others, and they ran up the dungeon stairs to escape when Ganondorf was too mad to notice. They got upstairs and out of the dungeon quickly, and were greeted by a sword coming straight for Zelda. But before Zelda had time to react, Link had already cut the hand off the arm of the Gerudo swinging it. He screamed, as his body slumped and fell.
War was raging all around them. Hylians, Terminians, Shiekahs, all of them united, fought the Gerudo. The whole area was filled with blood, sweat and bones. Bodies of all four races scattered the grounds, some familiar faces in them.
They turned back towards the Palace which was falling brick by brick. They were all awaiting Ganondorf, Link swore to himself that either he leaves this place with his head, or gives up his own. He tightened his grip on the Master Sword and Hylian Shield, the others did the same with their weapons.
Soon enough, Ganondorf arose from the rubble. Nobody was surprised one bit, Ganondorf wouldn't go down that easy.
"Come on Hero, fight me one on one, or do you not have the guts for that?" Ganondorf was smart, he knew fighting them 5 on 1 would be a difficult task, impossible even. If he could finish Link the others would lose morale, and be easy pickings.
Link smirked, he expected Ganondorf to say something like this, and he had a plan.
"Come on then, fight me!"
"Link, no, you can't let him rile you up like this." said Zelda, she knew Ganondorf was just tricking him into a one on one fight to better his chances.
Link looked at Zelda, "Trust me."
Zelda's heart fluttered, she nodded. She just hoped Link had a plan.
Link and Ganondorf moved towards each other, the others formed a circle around them. The war had stopped momentarily, all the remaining soldiers had joined the circle.
Link and Ganondorf stared at each other, neither moved a muscle. Then all of a sudden, with no warning, both ran towards each other. Ganondorf swung down with the might of Din, Link took his sword skywards with the courage of Farore. The clang could be heard throughout the desert.
***
Their brawl had been raging on for about half an hour now, but nobody dared take their eyes away. It was a spectacular sight, they both fought like demons. Swords clashed, blood and sweat dripped, and the magic was exhilarating. Both of them were tired, injured and panting, but nobody let his guard down for even a second.
Link was thinking about his plan. After learning he bore the Triforce of Courage, he had immediately gone to learning as much as he could about. He had read countless old legends and stories, in the hope that one of them may contain something useful. One old legend, written by a Rito storyteller called Kass, told about the story of the Princess of Hyrule, and her faithful Knight, and how together they had defeated the monster that had infested Hyrule for a century. The princess, knight and the monster, each had a piece of the Triforce. The legend had a particular paragraph :
Every age, the Goddesses send their Triforce to those who they deem worthy, but one always tries to usurp the power of the others. The only way to defeat this demon, is when the Triforce unites, and the two overpower the other. Just like in my time, the Princess and her Knight, through their love, united, and overcome the blight. I write this in the hope that it aids others in a different age.
Link knew beating Ganondorf in one to one combat, was an impossible task. Link needed Zelda's help, just like the Princess and Knight of the past, they too, had to unite the Triforce, and overpower Ganondorf. He was trying to tire Ganondorf as much as possible, his plan was a long shot, but it was his only hope to finish him once and for all.
"Give up Hero! You know you can't beat me, you can only stall the inevitable. Give up now, and I'll grant you a swift and clean death, you won't even feel it."
Link smirked, Ganondorf tightened his grip, he knew something was coming.
Link shouted, "NOW!"
Out of nowhere, a volley of arrows came in from behind Ganondorf. Not expecting it, he got pierced by a lot of them, and screamed in pain. Link knew there wasn't a lot of time, he had to act now. He quickly ran over to Ganondorf, and grabbed one of his hands, everyone watching was confused.
"Zelda, get over here QUICKLY! Grab his other hand!" Zelda didn't know what he had planned, but she ran as quickly as possible and grabbed Ganondorf's other hand. Link with his free hand dropped his sword and took Zelda's free hand. Their hands started glowing with the symbol of the Triforce.
The Triforce unites...
Yes! Link's plan was working, he heard the same voice he heard all those nights ago while taking the Hylian Shield from Ganondorf's room. The voice kept getting louder, Ganondorf seemed to realised what Link was doing, and started screaming "NO!".
A halo enveloped the three, they were lifted in the air, the voice kept getting louder each second, Ganondorf still screaming. Link and Zelda looked at each other, their eyes met. Link tightened his grip on her hand, and shouted, "NOW!"
The halo around them turned into a bright flash of light, everyone watching this spectacle had to cover their eyes.
When the light subsided, they saw a golden beam erupt from Ganondorf skywards, straight to the heavens above. Zelda and Link backed away. Ganondorf still screaming, the golden beam seemed to be taking something from him. Link only saw it for a split second, but he was sure he saw Hylia herself, take the Triforce piece from Ganondorf, and go back to the heavens. The beam went away, and Ganondorf was left on the ground, looking weak and powerless. The Triforce mark on his hand was gone, the Goddess had taken away his power. Link picked up his sword, and moved towards Ganondorf, Zelda beside him, drew her weapon too. They looked radiant, the halo still visible around them. Ganondorf knew he was beat, he tried to crawl away, but Link nocked a arrow, and shot it straight at Ganondorf's hand, nailing him to the ground.
"Loo-ook, you beat me, yo-you can have my kingdom, mo-money, whatever you wa-ant. Ba-Banish me, send me away, I'll never set foot in Hyrule again, just please, le-let me live."
"Let you live? And how many said that to you when you mercilessly killed?"
(HEAVY GORE WARNING)
"I-"
"THOUSANDS!" Link slammed his sword in the ground causing Ganondorf to flinch. "You murdered thousands, uprooted families, massacred villages, kidnapped the Queen of Hyrule, tried to kill her." Link grabbed Zelda's hand while saying this, "And you have the gall to ask me to spare you?!" Link grabbed his sword and cut off one of Ganondorf's arms, he screamed. "You don't deserve being spared, and you sure as hell don't deserve a quick death, I'm gonna make you suffer, I'm gonna make you regret every decision you ever made." He cut off his other arm. "I'm gonna make you regret that you ever tried to do anything to my Zelda."
"Look I-" Link cut off his tongue in a swift strike. "YOU DON'T GET TO TALK, YOU ONLY SCREAM, SCREAM LIKE ALL THOSE DID WHO YOU TORTURED AND KILLED!" Ganondorf screamed even louder. Link stabbed him repeatedly, but not hard enough to kill him immediately. He sliced his non fatal parts lightly, which caused immense pain.
"Now, you die." Link's voice was soft but deadly, as he tightened his grip on the Mastersword, and drove it forwards, straight into Ganondorf's throat. Blood flew heavily, he screamed one final time, and fell forwards into blood and dust. Ganondorf was dead.
(GORE END)
Leave his body there, he doesn't deserve a burial, the rats and vultures can take him.
The Hylian army shouted in triumph, they had won the war, it was finally over. Most of the Gerudo soldiers gave up, they had no purpose if their leader was finished. Those who didn't were immediately finished by the Hylian soldiers.
"Put all the soldiers who surrender in the dungeons, don't kill them without reason."
"Yes sir!"
Link turned around to look at Zelda, they both had tears in their eyes but smiles on their faces. Link ran to her and hugged her tightly. "We won Zel, we won!"
Zelda nodded in response, and tightened the hug. After some time, Link pulled away, "Follow me."
He took her to one of the town walls, where they had a clear view of the sun rising on the desert. It was morning already.
Link looked like he was trying to say something, so Zelda began with, "Before I was captured, you wanted to tell me something?"
"Yeah, I should've said it then, I was stupid not to. All the time you were captured, the thing driving me was if something happened to you and I never told you, I-. Well I'm gonna tell you now." Zelda looked at him with anticipation, they both were waiting for this moment for what seemed like ages.
"Zelda, I love you." Link smiled and finally said it, Zelda's heart exploded, it took all she had for her to stop herself from jumping up and down. They looked in each other's eyes, and leaned closer.
Their lips met, and their embrace got tighter. Neither pulled away as the sun arose on the desert. It was a beautiful day.
A/N : CHAPTER 12 DONE! And this time no 6 month hiatus! It feels amazing! And no, the story has not ended, but the main arc is done. There will be some more chapters, and i have something else planned hehehehe... The new chapters will come out soon too, and I swear I wont take another long break! So finally we get Zelink, and Ganondorf is dead! Please let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments! If you like it, a vote goes a long way. Anyways that's all for now, see ya in chapter 13!
Word count (Without A/N) : 2448
(Another long one!)