by N Felts
entire room before she is thrown to the ground next to her hero. Making yet another dash for the sword, the young man is punched in the stomach with a bolt of lightning, throwing him back onto the staircase. The undeniable power causes the man to grin crazily beneath his helm, but even so he knows there is only one remnant capable of harming him. The helmed villain raises a single palm as the young man pulls the Sheikah to a sitting position. Shaking her head, she appears to be alright, but the duo have failed to keep the man from achieving his goals. Beginning to shake within its pedestal, the master sword cracks down the length of its blade, the almighty power of the Triforce proving too much for it to resist. His eyes widening, the hero can only stare in disbelief when the blade of evil’s bane shatters to pieces, each of them blasting completely out of the temple in different directions. The only surviving fragment, the blue handle, dropping onto the pedestal with a weak thud while the owner of the Triforce barks more evil laughter. Multiple beams of blue light peer through the holes created in the thick walls of the temple, and the unsuccessful couple feel the verge of defeat upon them.
Never giving up for even a moment, the man in green pulls his bow from his back, lining up an arrow with its target. Thoroughly amused, the dark man chuckles uncontrollably at his misplaced bravery, crossing his arms and waiting for the pathetic attack to fail. Knowing they are out of options, the Sheikah scours her mind for anything to outwit her godlike opponent. Rarely failing her before this moment, her wisdom persists, knowing there must be a way to strip the warlock of his power. Unable to find the willpower to do anything at all, Rift sits with his knees to his forehead, hugging his shins tightly. The worst day of his life seems as though it will never end, the screams and blasts of light above paralyzing him with fear. As the arrow disintegrates the moment it enters the dark man’s force field, his delight is palpable, rhythmically shrugging while relishing in his supremacy. As if the arrow struck some unseen weakness, his aura falters, warbling and flickering as if its source of strength has been disconnected. Seconds later, it disappears completely. Stricken with confusion, he drops to a single knee as his power flees from his body rapidly. A golden hue spreads through his veins, glowing through his armor as if it has turned translucent. Fighting to regain control, he lets out a roar of desperation as the entire room is consumed with a blinding light.
The vision-obliterating white fades from everyone’s sight slowly, the room returning to the dim flicker of the torch-lit walls. The portal leading into the Sacred Realm has vanished, the three combatants standing about the empty pedestal of time. The Sheikah is no longer among them, a gorgeous Hylian princess standing in her place. An elegant pink and white dress flows down from her jeweled necklace, the royal crest emblazoned upon it. Brownish-blonde hair flows down from her golden crown, her blue eyes fixated on her right hand. Removing his mighty helm, the former possessor of the complete Triforce reveals himself to be a Gerudo man. Tightly braided red hair fades down into a short beard upon his angry grimace. Tossing his bow to the ground, the young man steals a glance at his sword hand, not expecting the Gerudo to launch yet another attack. Stopping at arm’s length, the mighty punch hits a magic wall just before finding its target. Whipping his vision to the right, he finds the princess’s outstretched arm, her hand glowing with a small, golden triangle. Fuming with rage, he looks back to the hero to find his left hand risen, revealing a triangle of his own.
The infinite power of the goddesses has been split once again, despite the Gerudo’s best efforts. The resulting anger is nothing that can be controlled or stifled. He must kill them both. A garbled roar spills from his tongue as the evil Gerudo summons a dark vortex of energy around his glowing, golden hand. The next punch is not stopped so easily, shattering the princess’s force field and landing square in the young man’s chest, sending him flying down the massive staircase. Wasting no time, he slaps his hand to the floor, a whirlwind of purple spawning around his feet as a fireball flies past his head and explodes. Preparing a second ball of fire to be thrown, the princess fails to notice the dark energy forming around her feet. Unable to launch her second attack in time, a series of black chains leap from the ground beneath her, seizing her form and radiating with simmering purple energy. Fighting to break free of the constricting restraints, the princess ceases her struggle when the man marches over, stopping inches from her face. An authoritative slap across her cheek leaves her wincing with her eye tightly shut, the blow meant to send a message more so than dealing damage. A heavy footstep betrays the sneak attack as they young man has returned with sword in hand, leaping through the air for a double handed finishing strike. Catching the blade in his hand at the last possible moment, the pain streaming up from the Gerudo’s bleeding palm only serves to further enrage him. Tearing the sword from the hero’s grasp, he summons another vortex of energy before punching the tested steel to pieces.
Without even flinching at the loss of his only remaining weapon, the young man leaps into the air, rocking the Gerudo’s head to the side with a roundhouse kick. Continuing to trade blows, the Hylian hero is quickly overwhelmed by the man’s brute strength. A rapid series of devastating punches and kicks leaves the relentless young man barely clinging to consciousness. Seizing him by his tunic, the power being summoned to the tyrant’s fist for the final blow shrouds the entire room in darkness, the swirling hurricane of black and purple causing every loose object in the room to gravitate toward it. The boulders of the destroyed entrance, the torches attached to the pillars, even the weaponry of fallen comrades begins to slide toward the black hole high above the room’s center. Prepared to obliterate his nemesis once and for all, a piercing ray of white light cuts through the darkness, grabbing his attention. Using every available ounce of energy to assault the man in green, the princess has been freed from his dark restraints upon her. A conjured bow in hand, she has summoned an arrow of vibrant light, squaring up the shot carefully. Infected with memories of the pain the magic arrows have caused him, the Gerudo tosses the beaten hero aside, turning to face the new threat. Struggling to align her aim within the persistent pulling force of dark energy, the princess fires the arrow just as the dark man pounces at her.
A power struggle of cataclysmic proportions ensues, the divine light colliding with the dark energy, blasting pulsing waves of intensity and color in every direction. Only able to alter the arrow’s path, the man’s arm burns with purifying light as the arrow pierces through his punch, colliding with the wall behind him. A whirlwind of light and darkness illuminates and obfuscates the room as a portal to the Sacred Realm is opened by the holy projectile. The lone soul of evil in the room is pulled into the air, the portal churning like a vacuum of light, sucking the Gerudo into the realm of darkness he created. Flailing through the air, he draws his blades, stabbing them into the two pillars directly in front of the hungry portal. Straining to pull himself away from the torrent of wind, clawing at his form with invisible hands, the man’s arms are pushed to the brink of surrender while the portal slowly shrinks in circumference. The vacuum finally relents, the portal closing completely with a brief wink of light as it fails to claim his soul. Seemingly trapped in a crucified position, far too high above the stone base of the room to simply drop to ground level, the man rips his blades free without a second thought. Sprinting across the open air, circular glyphs of purple light form beneath his large strides, ushering him back into the fight. With another light arrow already pulled tightly back, the princess shows no signs of hesitation as the man returns to the platform.
Waiting an instant too long, the princess loses her opening as the man scoops his helm up from its temporary resting place beside the pedestal, and forms a glyph beneath himself. In the blink of an eye, the glyph jumps upward, launching him through the lone opening in the ceiling. Aggravated by his successful retreat, the princess drops to a knee, the mental stress of summoning successive light arrows proving too much for her to bear as the entity of divine p
ower is reabsorbed into her hand. Limping to her side, her hero offers a hand, though his battered form is in no condition to carry her. Accepting with a smile, the princess climbs to her feet, and the comrades help each other descend the long staircase toward the exit. Now that the action has subsided, the room has grown extremely dark, all of the torches having been plucked off the wall by the black hole resembling assault. Through the small opening in the ceiling, moonlight casts a blue shape on the floor near the entrance, gradually ascending to reveal a terrified child’s hiding place. Unsure if he should stay or run, Rift’s brief moment of calm has passed as the duo draws closer. Dipping into the room, and out of the thin beam of light’s path, he presses his back against a nearby pillar, the cool stone relaxing him as best it can. The couple proceeds past without incident and Rift breathes a heavy sigh of relief. He doesn’t know how, but he’s survived. Reaching up to wipe the sweat from his brow, panic grabs hold of his heart one last
