by N Felts
head. Her sister’s honor on the line, the Gerudo’s pride gets the better of her as she charges forward with a fearless war-cry. Hoping to call his bluff, Less’s heart skips a beat as the arrow is released. The instant the projectile takes to travel the short distance seems like forever in her mind, and finally, it hits its mark.
A sharp, cracking noise sounds over the howling wind for only a moment as Ganondorf lands next to the boy, weakly attempting to determine his bearings as consciousness returns to him. Locking his eyes upon his distant daughter, the Gerudo king’s thirst for violence dissipates in an instant, watching her head rock backward from the impact. Her ebony jewel, her badge of honor amongst thieves, shattered by the pitiless Hylian in his quest to end Ganondorf’s treachery. Her senses simultaneously paralyzed with an intensely disorienting feeling, the woman touches a hand to her forehead to discover only pale flesh where her treasured jewel once rested. Balance fails her completely as she limply collapses to the sand next to the arrow that knocked her out. With a faint degree of remorse for the misguided thief, Link leaves her where she lies just the same. Enemy or not, killing her would serve no purpose in the grand scheme of things. Scowling through the consistent wind pouring from the dark stone at the arena’s center, the hero squares up his next target. His rage having left him for the moment, Ganondorf considers his options as the boy in the hood slowly climbs back to his feet. The first arrow screams across the battleground, and his mind is made up.
Dashing away from the disoriented and confused Rift, the king of thieves pays no attention to the torrent of arrows flying at him. A transparent shield materializes about his frame, encasing his body within a dark sphere. The projectiles rapidly pierce the orb, but remain stuck halfway through, as if they are impaling a gigantic apple. An indelicate arm scoops the twilight princess off the ground, and the dark lord slings her over his shoulder like a barbarian plundering a village. Realizing his bow is not up to the task, Link breaks into a sprint, determined to finish this endless struggle for the realm. Turning back toward him with a devilish smile, Ganondorf focuses for a moment then swings a dismissive arm across his chest, disengaging his protective shield. The sphere suddenly expands as it vanishes, throwing all of the caught arrows outward in a random, shrapnel-like pattern. Ducking behind his shield at the last moment, two of the half dozen wooden missiles hit his metal defense with a hard clang. Without missing a beat, the Hylian resumes his charge as the Gerudo king tosses Midna’s limp form over his horse’s saddle. Desperate to reach his nemesis in time, Link curses his fate when an ethereal fist sucker-punches him.
Only losing his balance for a moment, the hero turns to find Rift a surprising distance away as a ghostlike form directly in front of the hero concludes dissipating. Considering simply ignoring the futile attack, Link soon realizes there is still some fight left in the boy as he charges the Hylian aggressively. A sloppy one-two combination is knocked aside as Link counters with two rapid lefts to the body. Cringing from the blow, Rift feigns another punch, successfully landing a leg-kick while his foe dodges backward. Yearning to gain the upper hand, the boy twists into a spinning back-fist, missing the Hylian completely as he ducks into an uppercut. The rising fist glances off Rift’s cheek, and he narrowly evades the knockout punch. Certain he has the hero’s number, the boy lunges forward with a left cross before the failed uppercut has even begun to recoil. Drifting backward, Link awkwardly shuffles his feet beneath him as the punch closes in on its target. A twirling right arm bats the punch downward as a left hook angles into the boy’s chin. Only just realizing he dropped his guard during the attack, Rift’s entire body spins one hundred eighty degrees from the impact, the abrupt counter dropping him to the ground instantly. With the insufferable boy lying motionless at his feet, Link sees his chance to be rid of him at long last.
“Ha ha ha ha!” The Gerudo laughs maniacally, his deep voice piercing through the droning wind and latching onto the hero’s ears. At a steady gallop, Ganondorf charges out of the structure with Midna draped across the saddle. His anger reaching an all-time high, Link glares down at the boy’s innocent face with shaking fists. Without a second to lose, he cannot consider his feelings or weigh his options in this matter. The boy has a part to play. Zelda’s words breathe down upon the horizons of his mind, but even so Link must wonder what good could possibly come of sparing him. The hoofbeats of the Gerudo’s dark steed fade away, and the hero realizes what he must do.
The Empty Handed:
Some Angels have Empty Hearts
Consciousness has come and persistently remained, like an overly attached pet it refuses to leave the boy alone, thwarting his every attempt to elude it. Mai must know by now he is awake, but even so he remains where he lies, too ashamed to arise and realize his defeat. His surroundings have changed drastically, though he has yet to take them in, still residing where Link left him in pursuit of a higher class of foe. The dark gateway leading to the twilight realm remains open, but the peaceful inhabitants of the realm have yet to make an appearance, the world of light too much for their bodies to endure. The twilight princess valiantly made attempt on Ganondorf’s life when the dark lord opened the portal, but she and her paltry army stood no chance. The hatred her men held in their hearts was amplified by the warlock’s magic, transforming them into shadow beasts once again. It is all too obvious Ganondorf sought the sealed realm of his internment for this very purpose. The Twili are still a young race, their souls yet to accept their fate, still searching for a reason why they are eternally imprisoned within the dark dimension. Why they must remain segregated from the world of light due to the actions of their malevolent ancestors. Though the king of thieves would see this trait as weakness to be exploited, Mai observes it as a sort of unaltered purity. The fear and violence that drives men to power is all but absent in the twilight realm, Midna’s guidance, and that of her forbearers, leading her people to an evolved state of peace. Now that the door has been thrown open a second time, she will be forced to ponder at what cost such a state of tranquility was achieved. The hearts and minds of her subjects are too fragile, too easily corrupted to stand a chance against such potent evil.
Finally opening his eyes, Rift finds what he expected. Mai lying beside him, smiling a sad smile of obligatory encouragement while she waits for some kind of sign he is prepared to continue. With an exasperated sigh, he averts his eyes, staring into the ebbing and flowing ocean of darkness pouring out of the huge stone behind him. At first glance, the air seems as though it would be toxic to breathe in, but the effects of the dark hue staining the open air prove purely psychological. The recent battle rewinds and plays in his mind for the tenth time. The combination of speed and power Ganondorf wields seems every bit as impossible as it is overwhelming. If there is a weakness in his technique, it is nothing Rift is able to perceive. Though he attributes Link’s knockout punch to his weakened state, deep down he knows the Hylian beat him fair and square. Three opponents. One with too much compassion to harm him, one with too much honor to finish him, and one who would crush him without a second thought. The boy can’t help but wonder where he fits into such a balance.
“Come on, we’ve lain here long enough. It’s just a temporary setback,” Mai assures, prodding him to become any degree of animated.
“I lost,” Rift states plainly, shaking his head. “I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Not yet. We still need the final piece. Then we’ll show them!” She announces, hoping the prospect is enough to motivate him.
“What’s the point? They’re both so much stronger than I am. They’ve always been the ones who fight over Hyrule, right? Let them,” he starts, not entirely sure where he is going.
“Let them what? Kill each other? It won’t change anything. It never has. My sisters are just using them to,” she pauses, realizing she is beginning to speak too freely.
“What?” Rift asks, raising an eyebrow.
“My sisters
will never allow their chosen to change anything,” she admits, deciding the cat is already out of the bag. “They use them to let the people think there is a struggle between good and evil. The thing is, no matter who wins, everything stays the same. The strong still bully the weak, the poor still go hungry, and the fear and hate is always near, just waiting for an opportunity to corrupt. Even in the best of times, too many are forced to suffer.”
“So what can I do?” He asks, feeling hopelessness wash over him.
“We can break the cycle. We can finally end my sister’s game forever. Once we’ve gotten rid of their pawns, we can go after them directly,” she explains as a noise to her left grabs her attention.
Climbing out of the sand herself, Less shakes her head as her dizzying perception slowly returns to normal. Equally disgraced in defeat, she notices Rift painfully move to a sitting position after Mai has already vanished. Curiously moving closer, she can see her own expression reflected in the boy’s face as she squats down a safe distance away.
“Hey,” she greets, the awkward conversation feeling somehow necessary
