Searing pain, a blazing white light…
Ganondorf fell.
His body plummeted like a stone. Crimson and black energies bled from his skin, thinning as he descended. Barely clinging to consciousness, his body chilled as immense power abandoned him. Though it was tempting to drift into the black, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. The reasons were formless and foggy, but rage coursed through his mind, relentless, in spite of his agony.
He hit something, both hard and soft at the same time, and his descent slowed. Cold and wet suffused his skin.
He opened his eyes. The descent ended as his body gently settled in the dirt. A fish darted through the leaves of wavy green weed nearby.
Even as he lay drowning and exhausted, his lungs screaming for relief, he would not succumb to the fatigue ensconcing him. Letting the unknown hatred take the reins, Ganondorf drew on it and instinctively unleashed a writhing column of red and black magic at the watery floor. The spell exploded, propelling the Gerudo towards the surface, a thick stream of bubbles chasing after him. He burst free from the river’s stranglehold and crashed heavily on his back onto the riverbed, his feet dunking into the water.
Despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to move. His meaty chest rose and fell as he sucked in deep, desperate breaths. His body needed rest, and now that it wasn’t going to inhale water, it demanded it there and then.
As he panted for air, his mind calmed, finding stillness in the respite afforded to him.
And the memories flooded back.
He brought two fingers to his forehead. The intricate lattice work of gold still clung there, but in its centre, he pressed down and found no jewel. No Secret Stone. Only a throbbing, tender wound where once a holy sword had stabbed.
Ganondorf inhaled furiously through gritted teeth. It was gone. And all of the unstoppable power that made him the Demon King. All ruined by that Hylian.
Link.
Clawed fingers dug into the fertile riverbank soil and hoisted the Gerudo to a sitting position. Immediately it struck him that the surrounding area was foreign to him. A river ran past, its source much further upstream, seemingly emanating from a walled city on the horizon. Boats dotted the water, some fishing while others appeared to be transporting goods. Harsh sunlight beat at his sodden clothes and skin. Where in Hyrule was this?
His body had finally caught up and Ganondorf summoned the strength to stand. Looking up, he failed to see the alabaster scaled dragon that helped Link best him. He spun about, unable to spot the floating Hyrule Castle, nor any of the other islands he had thrust aloft.
Where was he? This was still Hyrule, wasn’t it? Or had Link sent him to some afterlife he knew nothing about?
“Hey! Hey!” A passing merchant waved from his boat. “I saw you fall! Are you OK?”
“Tell me where I am,” Ganondorf called back.
“What? We’re just a little bit outside Karim,” the man shouted as his boat drifted away. “Maybe get yourself checked out!”
Ganondorf screwed up his face. Karim? There was no such place in Hyrule. What was this infernal riddle?
There was much he had to learn. Stifling his anger, the Gerudo King marched upstream, heading towards Karim and the answers he sought.
Ganondorf fell.
His body plummeted like a stone. Crimson and black energies bled from his skin, thinning as he descended. Barely clinging to consciousness, his body chilled as immense power abandoned him. Though it was tempting to drift into the black, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. The reasons were formless and foggy, but rage coursed through his mind, relentless, in spite of his agony.
He hit something, both hard and soft at the same time, and his descent slowed. Cold and wet suffused his skin.
He opened his eyes. The descent ended as his body gently settled in the dirt. A fish darted through the leaves of wavy green weed nearby.
Even as he lay drowning and exhausted, his lungs screaming for relief, he would not succumb to the fatigue ensconcing him. Letting the unknown hatred take the reins, Ganondorf drew on it and instinctively unleashed a writhing column of red and black magic at the watery floor. The spell exploded, propelling the Gerudo towards the surface, a thick stream of bubbles chasing after him. He burst free from the river’s stranglehold and crashed heavily on his back onto the riverbed, his feet dunking into the water.
Despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to move. His meaty chest rose and fell as he sucked in deep, desperate breaths. His body needed rest, and now that it wasn’t going to inhale water, it demanded it there and then.
As he panted for air, his mind calmed, finding stillness in the respite afforded to him.
And the memories flooded back.
He brought two fingers to his forehead. The intricate lattice work of gold still clung there, but in its centre, he pressed down and found no jewel. No Secret Stone. Only a throbbing, tender wound where once a holy sword had stabbed.
Ganondorf inhaled furiously through gritted teeth. It was gone. And all of the unstoppable power that made him the Demon King. All ruined by that Hylian.
Link.
Clawed fingers dug into the fertile riverbank soil and hoisted the Gerudo to a sitting position. Immediately it struck him that the surrounding area was foreign to him. A river ran past, its source much further upstream, seemingly emanating from a walled city on the horizon. Boats dotted the water, some fishing while others appeared to be transporting goods. Harsh sunlight beat at his sodden clothes and skin. Where in Hyrule was this?
His body had finally caught up and Ganondorf summoned the strength to stand. Looking up, he failed to see the alabaster scaled dragon that helped Link best him. He spun about, unable to spot the floating Hyrule Castle, nor any of the other islands he had thrust aloft.
Where was he? This was still Hyrule, wasn’t it? Or had Link sent him to some afterlife he knew nothing about?
“Hey! Hey!” A passing merchant waved from his boat. “I saw you fall! Are you OK?”
“Tell me where I am,” Ganondorf called back.
“What? We’re just a little bit outside Karim,” the man shouted as his boat drifted away. “Maybe get yourself checked out!”
Ganondorf screwed up his face. Karim? There was no such place in Hyrule. What was this infernal riddle?
There was much he had to learn. Stifling his anger, the Gerudo King marched upstream, heading towards Karim and the answers he sought.