"An impressive looking blade…" said the Mad King. "But nothing more. Would you hear my desire?" he continued. "To take this foul blade and blot out the light forever!" In a flash of lightning, a barrier went up around him and Gannondorf, separating him from Epona and the princess. Link, the Chosen Hero, readied himself for what he hoped would be his final battle.And with that, the battle began. Link, blinded by a cold fury slashed, hacked, ducked and rolled, gaining the upper hand. The Dark King's face contorted in rage until a thought struck him. He suddenly jumped back and launched an orb of black magic towards the hero, hitting him square in the chest. Link flew back until he hit the wall, sending a jolt through his body. He bit back a yelp.

"I told you before," Gannon said holding up his glowing piece of Triforce. "I cannot be beaten." When he looked up, the Hero was not sitting in the same spot. He quickly looked around, barely blocking in time. Berating himself for his carelessness, he noticed he had paid a price: blood was pouring down his right arm. The damn blade cut through his armor! 'NO! I was blessed! I cannot, no, I WILL NOT be beaten by a fool of this caliber!.' With that, he summoned forth another orb of black energy sending it toward Link who tried to dodge, but to no avail. This orb had much more power to it stunning him. The Dark King took advantage of this. In a puff of black fog, he summoned a barbed spear, shooting it at the Hero. It was as black as his heart, with razor sharp barbs running opposite of the point so that to be taken out required a sacrifice of flesh. Oh, how he would enjoy the cry of pain he knew would come. He received only a grunt in response.

Link never saw it until it was to late. The weapon buried itself into his left shoulder. He could hear the princess behind him take a sharp intake of breath. He tried to grasp the shaft of the weapon to remove it, but instead had his hands pierced. He quietly muttered a few choice curses, while gingerly removing his hand. "You lack the Power, and the Wisdom needed to defeat me, oh great Hero!" claimed Gannon whilst grinding the last word. Using the barrier for support, he hefted himself up. He took up the Master Sword in his right hand and quickly cut off most of the spear. Then, taking out his hunting knife he cut away a few of the barbs. Steeling himself, Link swiftly shoved the rest through his shoulder, taking care to remove the offending weapon. Despite being unable to properly grasp the blade anymore, Link stood straight and true. Both princess and king stared on in amazement and the green clad man. "Be that as it may, but I never lack Courage!" He threw himself at the monster before him.

She could scarcely believe her eyes. She had watched him gain the upper-hand, been angered when he was shot into the barrier, and was horrified when he was stabbed. Yet, never in her life had Zelda seen anyone dig such hellish weaponry from their body with nary a sound. He never ceased to amaze her. Just when she prayed that the surprises were over, a proud, commanding voiced broke into the air as he stood tall. "Be that as it may, but I never lack Courage!" Never having heard him actually speak, she was astounded with the amount of power it contained. She remembered that when she was a part of Midna, she had only ever heard him speak in a hushed whisper, or his hoarse battle cry. Never anything like this. The princess suddenly felt as though she should be in there, doing anything to help. If only it wasn't for this damned barrier! She couldn't even crack the thing. Then out of nowhere, he turned quickly to glance at her, causing her breath to catch. His cerulean eyes glinted dangerously in the dim light. Then they were gone. But in that split second, she saw the depth of his soul, and his soul told her that she should stay back, that he would do anything in his power to obliterate the foul beast before him. She silently agreed, standing back, but ready to heal his wounds when he emerged.

He could barely wield his sword, let alone swing it., and without it was useless. He was brought from his reverie when a dark orb hit mere inches from his head. He ran, blocking while considering his options. He could try to use his right arm to wield the blade, but it was quickly growing numb from the Hylien Shield and constant barrage of attacks. And anyway, there was no way he could do that, that would require stopping. And that was not an option at the moment. He had a fairy, but that would leave him with nothing. No, the fairy had to be his last resort. He had some milk and various other potions. 'Yes.' Link decided, if he could spare enough time, the potions just might make a difference.

Gannondorf was growing wary and enraged with every orb Link dodged or blocked. He had to finish this soon or he may not have the power to eliminate the princess. She was strong of mind and resisted heavily when he took over her body. He barely was able to keep control. He had to stop and give himself a brief respite, the heavy use of magic was beginning to take its toll.

When Link saw Gannon pause, he took his chance, pouring the various liquids into one bottle. He brought it to his lips, suppressing the urge to gag. The concoction disappeared behind his lips, leaving a horrendous taste behind. Despite all this, the hero's wounds began to knit together, leaving only torn clothing and stains of blood. Then, taking up his weapons again, Link took advantage of Gannon's lowered defenses and charged. The false King had no time to respond and became a living sheath for the white blade of the Master Sword. Dark blood splattered Link's face, but he ignored it and plunged deeper yet. The Dark King let out a howl of rage and agony, piercing the ears of the hero. Link withdrew his blade, suddenly feeling weary. The effect of the potion did not last long, leaving him tired, but unwounded.

'No!' Gannondorf thought as he fell to the ground with a thud 'This cannot be happening, not after my planning. Damn you, Damn you Hero!' He summoned all his remaining strength and waited for the precise moment he needed.

'He did it!' The princess was overwhelmed with a short-lived joy.

'This ends now!' and the green-clad hero leapt into the air for the Finishing Blow. Just as he came down, face set, he realized his mistake. With a sickening tearing sound, the Blade of the Sages ripped into Link's chest, going through even the chain mail underneath. He saw that Gannon had sloppily yet effectively sealed his wound. The Dark King stood up raising his sword to the Heavens, with the hero still impaled on it. The Master Sword fell to the ground, useless. He slowly lowered the blade and enjoyed the sight of the hero sliding off, enjoying the thud as his body hit the ground even more.

As much as she wanted to scream, it was caught in her throat. She could only watch in horror as Gannon was not satisfied with merely rearranging his internal organs.

He looked down on his victim with a smug smile. Now that he lay on the ground, a broken, bloody figure, he did not seem like such a threat anymore. He wanted more. As he stood over Link, he summoned another barbed spear, and hurled it at the man.

Link was on one knee when the spear caught his stomach, blood began to pour from his mouth. The next one took his arm, knocking him back to the ground, causing him to writhe in pain. He saw the Mad King stride over to him, before drawing back his leg. The kick hit him above the right eye, landing on the temple. The pointed boot cut into him. More kicks came and in between them would be another barbed spear. It was amazing how strong you get when you finally win. Link looked over once to see Zelda launching orb after orb of blue energy at the wall. Another kick brought him back to the pain. He let out a cry as wave upon wave of agony, when he saw that the fairy had escaped it's broken bottle. Link tried to smile with his broken jaw, before seeing Gannon step on it crushing its fragile body. He let out another wail of pain as he felt Gannon stomp on his leg, shattering the bone. Then again as another foot ground his right arm into the metal of the shield.

The last thing Link saw as death finally took him, was Gannon summoning another spear, this one dripping with poison. The last thing he felt, was a red hot menace pierce his heat. The last thing he heard, was his own agonizing scream. His last thought was: 'I failed.' Then he entered a void, filled with a kinder darkness, a darkness that took away all pain. The Hero welcomed it.

The evil King let out a triumphant laugh. He did it! He killed the so called 'Chosen Hero'. "I have defied the Gods themselves! I am the king of both Light and Darkness!"

She collapsed on the ground and wept. He was gone, the Chosen Hero was gone. Though she had only known him for a short while, she felt a deep emptiness in her heart. He had been so kind, so pure. He was brave, courageous, and devoted to his cause, it was hard not to immediately fall in love.

With a wave of his gloved hand, he obliterated the barrier. Walking, almost waltzing over toward Zelda, he began to call out promises of letting her serve him. The death of Link seemed to give him more energy than he ever thought possible, he loved the feeling of it. The feel of Link's blood still coating his hands, beginning to congeal. He was in ecstasy.

She heard his putrid voice spewing forth vile promises of mere enslavement. She set her face, letting anger light up her blue eyes. Looking up, the princess knew what she had to do. With Link gone, there was no one else, She would fight Gannondorf and most likely die trying, but at least she tried, put forth the effort. Zelda would do what she had to do to save her people from this… monster. She readied her blade for the final stand for Hyrule. He was almost upon her, sword poised, ready to strike. Then they both paused and were temporarily blinded by a white light that just so happened to embalm Link's body.