Disclaimer: I don’t want to get in whatever trouble people can get into when using other people’s characters so - .The Legend of Zelda, Link, Zelda, Ganon, Hyrule and other related characters and settings belong to to that wonderous console company, Nintendo. No infringement intended.

Juliet A. Singleton (Scullys@bigfoot.com) & Kirsty Singleton (Space@xs.clara.net)

  It was midnight before the two reached Death Mountain, in all, it had taken them four hours to arrive there. They had been attacked by a few moblins on the way, but Leigh had cast the linear spell of ignite, and well, ignited them all. They wouldn't be approaching Leigh in a hurry again. "How come you didn't use that the first time you got attacked, instead of summoning Sal?" asked Link after they had walked away from the scorched group. "I forgot, it's hard to remember every spell when you haven't got the book," replied Leigh, looking up at the formidable mountain. "Look, over here," said Link, motioning for Leigh to follow him. A jagged piece of rock jutted out from the mountain side, covered in dense foliage. He pulled it and a deep rumbling emerged from behind the foliage. "It's odd that I didn't notice that," remarked Leigh, she had checked around the mountain before summoning up that dragon. She shrugged and followed Link down through the concealed entrance.

  "Look Sal, you must know where it is!" sighed Zelda in frustration. She had been searching through the vast horde of treasure for hours. Sal looked down at her lazily, a sneer on her lips.

 "Well," she started.

  "Sal!" cried out Zelda angrily at the creature's teasing.

  "It is hard to keep track of where everything goes," protested Sal.

  "You know where it is Sal, do you want Ganondorf to become ruler of Hyrule?" asked Zelda.

  "Well, I suppose not," sighed Sal.

  "So tell me where it is then!" yelled Zelda.

  "No need to raise your voice with me, your Royal Highness," said Sal haughtily.

  "Look, enough is enough Sal, just tell me where the Kokiri Emerald is," pleaded Zelda.

  "What's in it for me?" asked Sal, peering down at Zelda.

  "Well, you have immunity. What more do you want?" said Zelda, biting her lip.

  "The odd human sacrifice wouldn't go amiss," said Sal thoughtfully. Zelda stared up at the dragon in disbelief.

  "I don't think so," said Zelda. Sal grinned.

  "No sacrifice, no emerald," she crooned. Zelda sighed, then suddenly remembered something that Link had told her in Saria. Apparently Leigh had been casting the summon spell upon Sal, and she hadn't liked it one bit.

  "If you don't give me the emerald, then I'm afraid you shall have to become the Avatar's dragon," said Zelda smugly. Sal hissed, smoke pouring from her nostrils.

  "Huh, I don't think so princess," said Sal.

  "You are Link's dragon...at the moment. What if he were to give you to Leigh," said Zelda sweetly. Sal pouted as best as a dragon could.

  "How about just one human sacrifice?" asked Sal. It was her turn to plead.

  "Okay, you can have any criminals that we have imprisoned permanently," compromised Zelda, although they had none of the kind.

  "Well, it's a deal then," said Sal, she bent down and began to search through the huge pile of treasure. Minutes later she emerged, a gleaming emerald pendant around her snout, she lowered her head and offered the pendant to Zelda. Smiling, she grasped the pendant and admired it. "We're one step closer to the sword," she whispered.

  "It seems quiet," whispered Leigh as she and Link crept through the underground passages of Ganondorf's domain.

  "Too quiet," murmured Link. Suddenly, a huge skeletal creature jumped down in front of Link, and at the same time a huge, slobbering moblin jumped down behind Leigh. The two hero's stood back to back, weapons drawn.

  "Hey Skoll! Lemme have the pretty one!" yelled the moblin excitedly.

  "You won't have the chance!" snarled Leigh, jabbing the sword forward. The moblin stood there dumbly, allowing the sword to rip into his soft flesh.

  "Uhhh," he moaned.

 "You seen Ganon around recently?" asked Link, commencing battle with the stalfos.

  "Uh, who's dat?" asked the idiotic skeleton.

  "Yeah, us don't know who dat Ganon dude is! We is da rulers of dis domain now!" proclaimed the moblin, protecting himself from Leigh's blows with his shield.

  "Well, how about a guy, who's about seven foot tall with red hair?" asked Leigh, cutting the moblin's shield in half.

  "Umm, oh! Dat ugly geezer," exclaimed Skoll, pausing for a moment. Leigh hit the moblin on his upraised arm, cutting it off.

  "Owwee!" he bawled.

  "What about 'im?" asked Skoll.

  "We want to know where he is!" said Link.

  "He ain't down here, he's up there!" replied Skoll, pointing up to the ceiling.

  "How do we get up there?" asked Leigh, severing the other arm of the moblin.

  "Ya walk!" cackled the moblin.

  "Shut up Aspete!" said Skoll, who appeared to be thinking.

  "Can I kill him?" asked Leigh, turning to Link. Link shrugged. Leigh pushed the blade into the moblin's chest, who fell promptly to the floor, blood gushing from every wound.

  "Oh, you cut up Aspete pretty bad. You make Skoll pretty mad!" cried the stalfos, leaping over Link towards Leigh. Leigh turned just in time and raised her shield deflecting the wild skeleton. She fell to the floor, as did Skoll. Link poised his sword above the stalfos' skull.

  "Where is he?" asked Link. The skeleton appeared to gulp.

  "Up there, but don't tell him we's are here," said the skeleton trembling.

  "How do we get up there?" asked Leigh, standing up and brushing herself off.

  "Dere's a secret passage me an' Aspete built, it's in the old throne room," said the skeleton. Link drew his sword away, instead kicking the stalfos in the ribs.

  "Come on," motioned Link to Leigh. Leigh stepped over the pile of bones and followed Link, who swiftly led them to the old throne room.

  "Well, this passage really is secret!" remarked Leigh sarcastically as she and Link crawled through the up sloping passage. The so-called 'secret passage' had not been concealed at all once her and Link had arrived in the throne room.

 "Well, I'm glad it wasn't, that way we didn't waste any valuable time looking for it," said Link, shuffling further up the passage. Soon enough, they came to a dead end, or so they thought. "Maybe they hadn't finished it," sighed Link.

  "Just try going through it," suggested Leigh, remembering the many 'secret passages' that lay back in Sosaria.

  "You kidding?" asked Link, sounding unsure.

  "Yes, in Sosaria almost any secret passage is an illusionary wall," answered Leigh. Link moved further forward, and found his head sticking through the wall, or rather floor of Ganondorf's new domain. He quickly crawled out, followed by Leigh.

  "What did I tell you?" asked Leigh proudly.

  "You were right," agreed Link. The two heard footsteps approaching.

  "Quick, hide," hissed Leigh. Link pulled Leigh behind a pile of treasure, waiting for the footsteps to pass. "Okay," said Leigh, once the footsteps had gone. "I'm going to cast an invisibility spell on the both of us so we can find Ganondorf undetected, then I'll cast 'time stop', where you can grab the pendant without him noticing," explained Leigh.

  "Sounds as good a plan as any," agreed Link. Leigh pulled a few reagents from their pouch and flung them into the air whilst chanting,

 "VAS SANCT LOR!" Link felt a strange tingling sensation. He glanced down at himself only to see nothing. Leigh grabbed his arm. "Come on, it doesn't last all that long," she urged. They ran through the passages of the domain, until they finally found where Ganondorf was residing. As they stood nervously at the doorway to his chamber he turned, as if to stare at them. They both stood still, not daring to breath.

  "You!" he cried, pointing at Link.

  "Okay, now is the time," said Link nervously, nudging Leigh. Leigh nodded, she pulled some mandrake root, some garlic and some blood moss from the pouch and held them tightly in her hands. She raised her hands, still closed and yelled,

 "AN TYM!" As she did so, she fell to the floor and the ground shuddered. Link looked at her in concern. "Quick! Take it!" she commanded. Link rushed over to Ganondorf and snatched the pendant that hung from his neck. He examined it briefly, then quickly pocketed it. He ran over to Leigh who grinned at him sheepishly. "I forgot how energy consuming that one is," she said.

  "Well come on," urged Link, pulling her to her feet. Leaning on him for support, they began to make their exit from Ganondorf's realm.

  Ganondorf shuddered and blinked. What had just happened. Only a moment ago, he could've sworn that he had seen Link. But now, he was gone. It was strange, he felt as though he had lost time. His arm was still outstretched, the accusing finger pointing at nothing. He sat down, feeling confused. Groaning, he lay back, folding his arms across his chest. Then he realised something was missing. The amulet! Ganondorf jumped up and rushed out of his chamber. Somehow, Link had stolen the amulet without himself realising it. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate. A moment later, he could see all the images pouring through his mind as his own 'minds eye' roved through his domain, searching for Link. Then he saw him, the young hero seemed to be crawling, with Leigh behind him. Where were they? He snapped his fingers and a huge hell hound appeared in front of him. Track down the chosen hero! He has been here! Ganondorf demanded. The hound barked and put his nose to the ground, trying to pick up the scent of the hero. It was not long before he found it. The hound barked again. "Find him, and bring him to me!" growled Ganondorf. The hound seemed to understand and quickly sped away, following the scent.

  "You okay?" called Link back to Leigh as he sped down the cramped tunnel.

  "Yeah!" called back Leigh, who wasn't far behind him.

  "Got any spells that can get us out of here?" asked Link, praying that she would.

  "I need to eat or sleep before I can cast again," sighed Leigh. Link fumbled in his pocket and came across an untouched apple. He turned and handed it to her. She continued to crawl after him, whilst eating the apple. Even this small piece of fruit was beginning to restore the energy that had evaporated when she had cast 'time stop'. "Yes, remember when I cast that spell in that cave earlier on?" said Leigh.

  "Yeah," replied Link, realising he was about to find out what it was for.

  "I think I'm strong enough to make good use of it," said Leigh. She stopped, and withdrew some more reagents from her bag. "KAL ORT POR!" she chanted. There was a brilliant flash of lightening, and only seconds later, both Link and Leigh found themselves at the entrance of Sal's cave. Leigh wavered slightly, feeling weaker than before. Although the spell she'd just cast did not require all that much energy, any energy that had been left, and even replenished had only just been enough to cast the spell. Link caught her, before she fell to the ground. "I think I over-exerted myself," murmured Leigh, her eyes fluttering shut for a brief second.

  "Come on, let's get in here," said Link, pulling Leigh into Sal's cavern.

  "Oh look, the happy travellers return!" mocked Sal. Link carefully helped Leigh to sit down. Zelda was asleep, curled up on a rough blanket. Leigh managed to pull her bed roll from her pack and lay it down. She crawled on top of it and closed her eyes. "Did you find it?" asked Sal coolly. Link nodded, pulling the pendant from his pocket and holding it up for Sal's inspection. "So I suppose you'll be going to get your sword tomorrow," asked Sal casually.

  "You found the last pendant?" asked Link. Sal nodded.

 "The princess has it," replied Sal. Link smiled and walked quietly over to Zelda. He shook her a little, she rolled over and looked up into his handsome face.

  "We found it," he whispered. Zelda sat up.

  "You managed to steal it from him?" asked Zelda, happy but surprised. Link nodded.

  "I couldn't have done it without Leigh though," he said, looking over to where she was sleeping.

  "How did you do it?" asked Zelda, following Link's stare. Link turned back to Zelda.

  "We went in through the usual way, but he wasn't there. We found a passage that led up into Ganondorf's new domain, inside the crater. Once we got there, Leigh made us invisible, and when we found Ganondorf, she made time stop so we could grab it. She' completely worn out," explained Link briefly.

  "How did you get back?" asked Zelda.

 "Well, I'm not sure, but she cast some sort of teleportion spell that sent us back here. She was already exhausted from the time stop spell, she must be completely whacked," explained Link.

  "Sal found the emerald pendant," said Zelda suddenly, tugging the green pendant from her pocket. Link took the ruby pendant from his own to show it to Zelda. "Should we go now? I mean before Ganondorf realises?" asked Zelda, excited at the prospect of retrieving the ancient artefact.

  "No, we'll wait 'til the morning. I don't think it'd be safe to go just yet. We'll be safer in daylight," said Link resolutely. "Let's just get some sleep," he added, lying down next to Zelda and wrapping his arms around her. He was exhausted, and he soon drifted off into a deep slumber.

  "Ugh, what's that smell?" asked Zelda the next morning as she awoke. Sal looked down at her.

  "Roast hell-hound anyone?" she asked. At the entrance of the cave there was a steaming corpse of a hell-hound.

  "Hell-hound?" asked Zelda, hell-hounds usually only resided in Benlucca, and they were also a dying species.

  "Yes, this chap came in here and tried to rip our dear Avatar's throat out. That was until I chose him for brekkie!" said Sal. She turned back to the corpse and quickly gobbled it up, chewing on it loudly. Zelda heard the creature's bones cracking inside the dragon's maw. Leigh was sitting up in her bed roll, chewing on a piece of bread. She looked tired.

  "You okay?" asked Link, who stood up. Leigh nodded, but said nothing.

  "Hell-hound is absolutely delicious," commented Sal, gulping down the last remains of the creature.

  "For you, maybe," said Link.

  "Maybe I shall go to Benlucca and finish them off," mused Sal. Zelda rolled her eyes and stood up. Link handed her some bread and a piece of fruit.

  "You feeling a bit better?" asked Zelda walking up to Leigh. She nodded and stood up, swallowing the last of the bread.

  "Just don't let me do that again okay?" she said to Link. "I nearly killed myself," she commented as she rolled up her bed roll and put it into her pack.

  "So, are you going to retrieve your fancy little sword then?" asked Sal, spitting a pile of bones onto the floor, just missing Link. Link turned and glared at Sal. "Ooops!" said Sal, grinning.

  "Well, yes we are," answered Zelda.

  "Hmmm, I still don't see what a rusty old sword could do that I can't," moaned Sal. Zelda rolled her eyes.

 "Look Sal, only one thing can truly destroy him, and that is the Master Sword," she tried explaining.

  "Well, if that's true, then why isn't he dead? I've heard that it's been used before," said Sal cunningly.

  "Well, both times he's had the Triforce, or a little bit of it, and that prevented him from dying. But now, with the Master Sword and the full Triforce on our side, he'll be gone for ever," replied Zelda smugly. Sal scowled.

  "Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked Link.

  "Exactly!" said Zelda.

  "Can I come?" asked Sal as they were about to leave. Although she hated to admit it, she did enjoy any kind of company, in any shape or form. Link nodded.

  "I don't see why not," he said. Sal grinned and promptly followed them out of the cave.

  Sal flew the trio down into the valley, then waited outside of the Lost Woods, sunning herself on the flat grass. Link, Leigh and Zelda made their way through the forest, following the beaten down track that Link had created previously. They were attacked by a small group of moblins, easily dealt with, and some red deelers descended from the trees at one point, but the group avoided them with no problems. They soon arrived in the tranquil glade, were the Master Sword resided. Taking all three pendants, Link walked up the marble pedestal. Leigh and Zelda stood back slightly, hoping with all their hearts that Link would finally be able to take the sword. He examined it closely, and noticed three little sunken spots, little recesses that matched the shape of the jewels. He inserted each one systematically, then as he placed the last one, something began to happen. The hero stepped back, and watched in amazement as the Master Sword began to shimmer and glow with a strong magical aura. The three pendants were all glowing, too. "Take it, Link!" Zelda called. He stood upon the pedestal, and walked up the steps that led up behind the sword. Taking a deep breath, he placed both hands upon the hilt, and pulled. Come on, please work this time, he pleaded mentally. He needn't have worried. The sword slid out of the stone pedestal easily, making a metallic sliding sound, like the sound when you pull a sword out from its sheath.

  "You did it!" cried a small voice excitedly. Link turned to see a familiar faerie fluttering nearby.

  "Sprite!" he cried happily. "What are you doing here?" he added. At that moment, Zelda rushed up to him and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

 "Oh Link, finally, we can have just a little piece of mind," she said.

  "I was so worried, I just couldn't enjoy the celebrations! Aaron told me that you were with Sal, so I came looking for you!" Sprite cried, smiling down. "And the legends speak so true! The sheer might of that weapon..." the faerie added, looking awed. Link looked down at the sword. The faerie was right. He could feel the power, simply just by holding it. It felt more powerful than any other weapon he'd wielded before, even more so than the trusty magical sword he'd used for years. Bending down, he picked up the three pendants, and handed them over to Zelda, who pocketed them. She said,

 "let's get out of here, before you know who decides the show up." Link shook his head.

 "No, I have a better idea. Let's go and get him now! You said yourself that he's still weak; let's strike while the iron is hot! We have the upper hand now!" he said excitedly. "Are you sure?" Zelda said, looking a little worried.

 "It may be our best chance. Come on, Leigh and I know the way, it's easy. We'll vanquish him right now, for good," Link answered determinedly.

 "I don't think..." Zelda began.

 "No time for doubts! Link is right!" Sprite exclaimed. The Princess sighed, but nodded.

 "Yes, I suppose you are right. I just hope we don't need the Triforce, too."

 "We're best keeping that out of his way, Zel," Link replied. He unsheathed his old sword, and tossed it over to Zelda, who barely managed to catch it.

 "Link! What am I supposed to do with this?" she exclaimed in horror.

 "Learn how to use it, Zel. If Leigh can use a sword, then so can you. And there's no-one else, aside from Ewan, that I'd let use that sword," Link answered.

 "I think I'll use my bow instead," the Princess replied, slipping the sword through her belt.

 "Suit yourself," Link answered. Leigh walked over to them.

 "All ready?" she questioned.

 "Yeah. Ganon's days are numbered!" Link said, looking determined and excited at the same time.

 "I hope," Zelda said quietly to herself.

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