Chapter 21
Valliant Maiden
Blow after blow Ganondorf waged and Link blocked, seeking to land a few of his own, but his time was better spent dodging and rolling from harm’s way. At some point, music perked his ears, and he caught snatches of Zelda and Midna, hands folded as if in prayer, each chanting their Song beneath their breath. As the Triforce glowed just a little brighter on the back of his hand, he knew: Midna sought to send her Wisdom Shard to Zelda, and Zelda sought to send its power and hers to him.
Of a sudden, Link and Ganondorf simultaneously swung their swords in a wide arc; dark energy spiraled off the tip of one blade, shadow and light bounced off the edges of the other—
But this time, Power and Courage did not ricochet off walls, pillars, or come close to hitting their targets. Rather, they combined, spinning together and locking in place, forming a long pillar of light and dark which connected their two swords in a beam of incredible energy. Link felt it pulse through his arms and then his entire body like a real, breathing, tangible life. He prepared to jerk his sword away, but then thought shattering the connection would bring all that energy surging at him, wounding him severely, possibly even to death. No, he must hold his own and overcome....
He and the false king braced their feet, gathering all the strength their muscles could hold and trying to force the energy back at the other. At times, the darkness crept a little further towards Link. At other times, the light and shadow crept a little further down the beam towards Ganondorf’s sword. For a while, Link thought he might prevail....
Ganondorf’s lips curled into a small but meaning smirk. He pushed and the darkness sped up the beam, nearly blackening the light from Link’s sword. Link pushed back, stopping it from reaching the tip of his sword just in time, but the exertion it took him to do so was exhausting. Was Ganondorf right after all? Link held more pieces of the Triforce, to be sure. But could courage and wisdom truly conquer such tremendous power?
His vision began to blur; he stumbled, and the darkness slipped up the beam again. It touched Link’s fingertips with an electrifying shock, waking him with a shudder. He didn’t even want to imagine how getting hit full force by such Power would feel—if it left him alive to feel anything at all.
Despite his urgency to press on and the increased intensity of Zelda’s Lullaby, his feet began to slip. His muscles shook. His eyes again weakened, and he blinked hard, trying to focus—
Suddenly, a silver blur burst between Link and Ganondorf, in the exact midst. A tremendous explosion like lightning ricocheting with millions of tiny tendrils echoed across the vast chamber. Just as quickly and surreal as that moment seemed to occur, the next happened with startling slowness and realness….
Link saw her stumble beyond the beam of Power and Courage, its bond already reforged. He saw her look up at him, grant a small smile, eyes gleaming even in her last moment with an impish sort of victory. Then, as her eyes closed, her body collapsed. Somehow, her exhale was deafening as her soul left her body sprawling lifeless on the ground, cloak shielding her like a coverlet for a funeral....
Zelda’s chanting intensified. He allowed her lullaby to enter his mind and glanced over only as a necessary distraction. Otherwise, his eyes would remain locked upon her, upon his Midna, and the longer they did so, the more vulnerable he would become, and the more easily he—and all they’d fought for together—would fall....
Zelda remained transfixed, hands folded prayer-like, lips moving as she sang her lullaby. Tears streamed from her closed eyes, glistening in the glow of the thin but vibrant beams of light radiating from the completed Triforce of Wisdom on her hand. The Triforce on his hand gleamed brighter as Wisdom’s power poured into him....
Power. Even as his eyes met Ganondorf’s again, still cold and unfeeling save for the new taste of victory gleaming within, Link did not forbid his tears fall from his eyes burning with sorrow and fury. Ganondorf possessed power, but no courage. In lacking courage, he lacked anything worth fighting for. But Link possessed everything in the world worth fighting for—Midna, his love for her, and her love for all the living of all Realms. Power could be taken from Ganondorf, but Link’s love could never cease burning, however painfully.
With a cry, Link gripped the sword tighter and pushed forward. The swirls of light and shadow rippled just a little closer to Ganondorf, consuming just a bit more of the darkness. For a moment, the false king’s eyes widened, maybe surprised, even impressed. Then, any hint of a smile vanished and he leaned in, grounded his feet, and pushed back.
But Link would not have it. He was Midna’s love. He’d become it. He was consumed with it. It consumed his entire being, and it would consume the evil of Ganondorf’s heart. He would make it. He focused on that love. He focused on Zelda’s Lullaby until it echoed wildly, almost deafeningly in his ears. There was only that song, that love, that courage, and all it stood against.
With a final shout of anguish, rage, and victory, Link marked a vertical slice through the air with his blade. The tendrils of light and shadow curled swift as lighting about the dark beam. Ganondorf had only time to stare in disgusted horror before he was thrown backwards off his feet, spiraling through the air and landing with a hard thud.
Link rushed over, glaring upon the false king who struggled to rise to his feet but could only glare back, entirely loathing, panting heavily. How old he looked in that moment. Power fading, he was left only with his hatred, which caused any lingering pity to flee Link for good—
The moment he plunged the blade into the dark king’s heart, the king released a final, hideous shout. The shadows of Link’s sword were dispersed by brilliant beams of light which radiated out, shattering the clouds over the castle, purifying that which had been marred by Ganondorf’s hand.
Then, all lay still. Breathing hard, Link removed the blade. Turning in disgust from the contorted body lying motionless on the floor, he looked up at Zelda; her hands lowered but remained folded, and she smiled with sad but definite pride.
“It is over,” she whispered. “It is finally over....”
It was over. For him, at least. Rushing over, his knees gave way as he reached her, and he collapsed at her side, the last of his strength finally extinguished. He did not have courage for this. Shakily stretching forth a hand, his fingers graced her long, waves of hair. The moment he did, the sob escaped his lips. Uncontrollably. Irrevocably. Her hair was softer than dawn’s first morning rays, just as he’d always imagined. Trailing his hand to her cheek, it too was soft, and especially, her lips. The lips he never....
Quiet footsteps. Then, Zelda’s shadow, cast by the sunlight which streamed freely through the window, making her hair shine like the fires of Midna’s eyes. Fires he would never see dance again.
“Truly,” Zelda breathed, “she had a good heart....”
“Indeed,” came the reply, raspy and broken by tears; then, Aniya’s hand upon his arm.
He nodded slowly. Weeping, he held Midna close to his heart. Zelda quietly sang her lullaby. Link knew she meant to grant solace, but he could only scorn the melody because of its counterpart. “Midna’s Requiem”, her Song had been called. Had Midna known? Did she always guess her fate would be tied only to death in the end?
None of it really mattered though, because he would never know. Hugging her closer still, he allowed his heart to break and pour forth its grief in full, releasing the rush of tears. He had done all he was meant to do. The sun shone anew on Hyrule.
But it could not illuminate his heart.
He was bound to the same lonely fate as before, only worse off. Loving and losing was not better than never loving at all, as the saying went. For him, there was now only to wait until the shadows of old age and aloneness consumed him.