Link’s eyes shot open, he was suspended in the air above a rocky ground. His arms were reached out and almost touching it. He seemed to stay still for a split second, and then he collapsed on the ground like a sack of potatoes. He noticed that he must have dropped the Master Sword on the way down. It was stuck between two rocks. He picked it up and ran toward the castle.

Ganondorf and Link’s reflection had met up. They were standing next to one another outside the castle walls. Their troops were taking over the city; there was very little resistance to be quelled with.

“I know where Zelda is.” Link said.

“You do?” Ganondorf asked.

“Yes I can feel it.”

“What do you mean ‘You can feel it’?”

“I felt it through Link’s fear of her dying, when I pushed him off that cliff. He knew wherever she was, she wasn’t safe. She is hiding in that room, on the top floor of the castle. If we get there fast we can capture her, and the power you seek will be yours.”

“Then I suggest we go.” The two of them walked into the city. Everything was trashed. They ran for the castle.

Link had arrived at the castle, the presence of Ganondorf’s troops made his blood boil. He couldn’t get in the easy way. There were many flaws in the security though. And it took a guard that knew the castle really well to keep the castle from being broken into. Link saw a doorway that led to the kitchen. He prepared his sword to attack any enemy that might jump out at him. He opened the door a crack. No one seemed to respond. He opened the door more and snuck in. No one was present at the time. He walked down the hallway swiftly; then skidded to a stop when he saw the evil guards were blocking the way to the stairway. He would have to take an alternate route. There was another stairway that led to the balcony, and from the balcony he would climb a few stories into the room were Zelda was. He could sneak in the window.

Ganondorf and his apprentice walked up the spiral staircase. There was no hurry, all of Zelda’s escape routes were sealed off. Her only choice was to jump out the window. A two of their soldiers were with them, in case the enemy was still present. Ganondorf had brought his sword with him too. Instead of coming to a point on the end it was curved. However the four of them were not alone. They were followed closely by a figure garbed in a black cloak. It wore a hood and a cloth covered everything but its eyes, which were red. Its cape was hugged closely to its body and the front of its robe had a Shiekah symbol on it. It stepped slowly and silently up the stairs after Ganondorf and Link.

Link had managed to find a long rope with a mace tied to the end of it in the armory. He could use this as a grappling hook. He made it up onto the balcony without being detected. He sheathed his sword and threw the mace into the air. It attached itself under the sill of the open window. He tugged at it to make sure it wouldn’t come loose. Link took a deep breath and began to climb the wall.

Ganondorf and his followers had just about made it; they were approaching the door to the room. The shadow figure still followed them. It reached into a pouch that was strapped to its belt and pulled out a handful of nails. They had finally made it to the door. “You stay here, Ganondorf said to the two soldiers. With that Link and Ganondorf walked through the door and closed it behind them. The dark figure peered around the corner at the two soldiers. Both were facing it and they held their spears ready for attack. “They just look intimidating,” it thought. It jumped out around the corner and released a horizontal spray of nails. The nails went straight into the vulnerable neck area. They both began coughing and gagging as life slowly faded from them and they collapsed into a pool of their own blood. The unidentified Shiekah simply watched them collapse to their death. It took great skill to throw nails and cause any damage to someone. This person seemed to have mastered this skill. Ganondorf and Link’s reflection looked around the room.

This room was large and entirely empty; it just had a few open windows and a picture of the Triforce painted on the stone floor. There was no sign of Zelda in this room. “I thought you said you would be he-” Ganondorf was cut off by Link jumping through the window. He drew his sword and held his hand up into the air. The Triforce of Courage began to glow on his hand. He glared at Ganondorf and his reflection contemptuously. His shadow was cast across the room by the mid-morning sun. Link was shocked that Zelda wasn’t there. Link’s reflection drew both his swords and tossed his shield into a corner. Ganondorf looked down at his hand; the Triforce of Power was glowing now. Zelda had to be hiding in hear somewhere. The symbols only lit up when they were near all the holders of the Triforce. Suddenly the door behind Ganondorf flew open. The shadow figure had just entered the room. Its hands were down at its side, and then it raised its right fist into the air. There was a Triforce symbol on its hand too and the lower left triangle was glowing, the Triforce of wisdom. All in the room were dumbfounded. Link looked the figure in the eye and it winked at him.

“Princess Zelda, I see you have managed to disguise yourself again. If it weren’t for that little triangle on your hand I probably wouldn’t have recognized you. I’m surprised that you have been brave enough not to hide from me. Now you and your friend must give me what I want and we will not destroy you. Do I make myself clear? Zelda was quick to respond. She reached into the pouch and pulled out a handful of nails. She whipped them as fast as she could at Ganondorf’s face. Ganondorf held out his hand and blinding streaks of light that lit up the room came from the incinerating nails, which were coming within inches of Ganondorf. Zelda slowly lowered her hand in disappointment. Both Links were ready to step into action. Zelda pulled here cape to the side, revealing a sheathed double bladed sword. She had it strapped to it somehow. Zelda pulled the sheaths off of each blade. The handle seemed to be gold and platinum plated. There were many elaborate designs on it. The blades which pointed in opposite directions were similar to a machetes blade, but they were twice as long and they had a slight curve to them.

The castle began to rumble slightly. All of the people present in the room looked around to see what the source of the rumbling was. Each of their swords began to slowly light up. Link’s sword began to glow green, Zelda’s blue, Ganondorf’s red, and Link’s reflections swords were a dark bluish purple, they almost resembled two big black lights. They all stood in amazement as their weapons became progressively brighter. Link and Zelda’s swords glowed like bright lights while Ganondorf and his apprentice’s swords gave of an eerie flame. Link heard the voices of the goddesses echoing in his head. “We are giving you all, those who keep the force into balance the power to throw the force out of balance.” Zelda leapt up into the air, and did a flip over Ganondorf and clashed swords with him in midair. Her black cape trailed behind her. Ganondorf drew his sword back and prepared to hack Zelda in two with the curved end of the blade, but Zelda spun her sword underhand hitting the end of Ganondorf’s sword repeatedly and she dodged out of the way when he finally attacked. Zelda went back to the offensive. She grabbed the handle with both hands and went for Ganondorf’s arm. He blocked the attack in time. Their blades were locked; they looked each other in the eye. The glow from the swords lit up their faces and eyes. The glow of the swords caused the pupils of Ganondorf’s eyes to give off a flash of blue.

Link ran at his reflection and started swinging his sword at him. The reflection easily blocked the attacks with his two swords, and Link instantly found himself on the defense. His reflection started to spin around clockwise. Each arm flailing an attack at Link each time it came around. Link had his sword nearly spinning in circles to block the attacks. Link jumped back, this would tire him out two much. Link did a summersault around his left side, and swung his sword at his head. His reflection quickly turned around and parried the attack with his right sword. He stood sideways and took a few more swings at Link with his right sword. Then he spun around counter clockwise and attacked with his left. Link was beginning to get tired. He had to cause him to loose one of his swords. His reflection began attacking him simultaneously with his swords. Link could barely keep up.

Zelda was doing all kinds of fancy tricks with her sword; she had to be elusive, for Ganondorf was much stronger than her. Her sword was spinning at blinding speed and she went for Ganondorf’s feet. He parried that attack and he pulled off an attack of his own. He went for her head and for her legs. She parried the attack both times. Ganondorf took an underhand swing at Zelda she blocked the attack but she was sent flying into the air by the force Ganondorf put behind it. She landed on the ground near the wall ten feet away. Ganondorf took this opportunity to help his apprentice. He gathered a ball of lightning and threw it at Link. Link spun around and prepared to block it with his sword, but he missed entirely and the energy ball knocked him against the wall and he collapsed onto the ground. Link’s reflection seized this miraculous opportunity to finish Link off. He grinned at Link and prepared to swing his sword. He swung the sword for Link’s neck but Zelda quickly got up and intervened. Link’s reflection and Zelda glared at each other, their swords still crossed above Link.

Zelda thrust his sword out of the way and the two of them began to duel while Link was still recovering. The two double bladed rivals were evenly matched. Link’s dark side could stay on the offensive and Zelda could easily block his attacks. His attacks were fast, but he had a consistent pattern to them. Ganondorf had entered the fray. He stood behind Zelda and swung his sword at her back. Zelda did a back flip and ended up on the other side of Ganondorf, so she was on longer surrounded. She stood low to the ground, several feet away from Ganondorf. She was poised to attack. Her left hand was outstretched and her right hand was behind her holding the sword. Link had recovered from Ganondorf’s attack. He ran at full speed toward Ganondorf. Upon seeing this, Zelda took it upon herself to fight Link’s reflection. She flipped over Ganondorf and landed in front of Link’s reflection and the two began to engage in fighting. Link held his sword with both hands and parried an overhand attack from Ganondorf. He used all of his might to push the sword back. He drew his sword back and took a stab at Ganondorf. Ganondorf swung underhand and knocked the sword into the air. He took a swing at Links head, but Link ducked out of the way just in time. Link jumped back and charged at Ganondorf spinning his sword underhand and to the right. Ganondorf blocked three lightning quick attacks, and then Link changed his course and went overhand to the right. They locked blades. Link was pushing upwards with all his might, holding the sword with both hands while Ganondorf pushed down with one hand. Link pulled back and did a summersault around Ganondorf. Ganondorf thrust his sword at Link but he dodged out of the way.

Ganondorf’s apprentice was taking the full offensive fighting Zelda. He was spinning clockwise, attacking with each sword horizontally. The right sword attacked up high, the left sword attacked down low. Because Zelda had a double bladed sword it was easy to keep up with his attacks. This time he did something different. When he attacked with his left sword he swung the right sword over his back and it came down at Zelda’s head. They were at a two way lock for a split second. Zelda twirled her sword around counterclockwise to break the lock. Ganondorf’s apprentice’s arms were pushed out to the sides, leaving him open for attack. Zelda kicked him in the face and he went flying back. He hit the back of his head on the ground and became unconscious. Meanwhile Link hand Ganondorf trapped in a corner. Ganondorf saw that his apprentice was in trouble and he managed to push Link away and smash the ground with magic. He couldn’t fight these two on his own. Link flew through the air and skidded across the ground. Ganondorf charged at Zelda, who was about to deliver the final blow, but her plans were thwarted when Ganondorf came charging at her. She turned around and charged at Ganondorf. He swung at her head, and she ducked. Then he went for the legs but she jumped it. Ganondorf swung his sword low from right to left. Zelda blocked the attack. As he pulled back to prepare an overhand attack, Zelda stuck her sword in Ganondorf’s face. He was hit on the nose and the left eye with the side of the sword. The energy of the sword burned his face badly; it was as if someone hit him in the face with a hot frying pan. He looked down in shock. Zelda slashed him across the stomach. The wound didn’t go past the muscle, and every area the sword had touched had a third degree burn.

Ganondorf stumbled back and dropped his sword. The red light faded from his weapon. A look of shock came across his face. As Zelda watched in amazement as her enemy slowly began to weaken. Ganondorf held out his hand, and summoned strong winds to blow Zelda halfway across the room. She tried to stand up but Ganondorf wouldn’t have it. He threw a magic ball at the ground in front of her, sending her back farther. He held both hands above his head and gathered a giant ball of dark magic. Link jumped up from the ground and charged at Ganondorf with his sword. Ganondorf was so focused using his last bit of power to destroy Zelda that he did not see Link running at him. Link plunged the Master Sword into Ganondorf’s side. All of the magic disappeared. Ganondorf shifted his eyes toward Link. “I promise you, one day I will get my revenge,” he said through gritted teeth. He could feel the hot blade burning away his internal organs. Link glared into Ganondorf’s eyes and pulled the sword out and watched him fall onto his back. Link stood over Ganondorf and watched death slowly grasp him. “The princess…”

“Yeah, Zelda. What about her?” Link asked.

Ganondorf shifted his eyes toward Link. “She will die.” Ganondorf’s eyes rolled back into his head. Link looked over at Zelda lying on the ground. Suddenly stones fell from the ceiling above her. Link looked at her in shock. He ran over to pull her out of the way, but the whole ceiling suddenly collapsed. “No!” Link yelled.

Link’s reflection stood up and chuckled. “It’s so terrible that she had to go after you just told her your feelings.” He began pacing back and fourth. “But I’m sure that she wouldn’t truly like you for the scum you are. I think you would be better off without her. I am offering you a last time deal. Come with me, without Ganondorf we could rule the world. We could extract his powers and be unstoppable. Are you with me or not?”

Link’s face contorted into one of total anger and hate. He ran at his reflection. He began hacking at his swords in a blind rage. His reflection tried to counter the attacks, but each time he tried Link pushed the swords out of the way. Link kicked him in the chest. Then he went for a vertical chop at his head. Link’s reflection blocked it just in time. Link continued hacking at him, and eventually knocked his sword out of his left hand and sent it flying across the room. Link’s reflection managed to speed up his attacks and took a few offensive swings at Link. Link blocked each attack. His reflection punched at his head with the spiked handle, but Link wouldn’t falter this time. He cut off his reflections hand before it reached his face. He screamed as his hand fell to the ground, with the sword still in it. He held his wrist and looked up at Link with anger. The wound did not bleed; it gave off darkness, just like a spotlight would give off light. The darkness enveloped the entire room. It had a strange effect on the sources of light. Link’s sword still glowed brightly but the light didn’t spread anywhere. It was as if the darkness was the light. “This is the beginning of the end, Link. You will all suffer… Not now, someday, and forever.” He fell to the ground and looked up at Link. “You will regret…” He couldn’t finish his sentence. His eyes were glued onto Link. The color in his face slowly began to fade, and then it started to turn grey and shrivel up. Ganondorf and his apprentice simultaneously burst into flames and disappeared. Link watched as they finally went away back into the Sacred Realm where they belonged. He then remembered Zelda. He hoped she wasn’t dead. He closed his eyes and said, “Don’t do this to me.” He walked over to the pile of rubble and began to slowly and cautiously take rocks off of it. He saw Zelda’s hand. He grabbed it and she squeezed his hand. “You’re alive?” He said it more like a gleeful statement instead of a question.

“Yes.” Link started to take off the rocks faster and faster. Finally he uncovered Zelda’s face. He removed the rest of the rocks and she stood up. Link saw a blinding flash of light come from Zelda. She was now no longer that dark figure. She was the Zelda he knew. “I’m sorry I scared you, but like you said, you had to deal with him by yourself, and I couldn’t interfere. Don’t worry, I’m safe now.” For the first time in his life, Zelda kissed him. He felt like he was in heaven. “Now let’s go back, to where and when we are supposed to be. Link took the ocarina from his belt and played the song of time. When he finished he held onto Zelda’s hand. The vision of the future slowly began to fade. Then they found themselves standing outside the castle where they met before. “I’ll go put this sword away.”

“Link, you are welcome back to the castle whenever you want. I can not thank you enough for what you have done. I love you.”

“I know,” Link said. “Did you hear him when he said this is the beginning of the end?”

“Hear who, your reflection?”

“Yes. Do you think it is?”

“No. Not as long as we are together.”