LINK CLIMBED another step, walking a stairway that had gone outside the main tower structure, and wrapped around it. The air rushed past him with violent force. Each step brought him closer to the twisted monster he had to face.

After the cold, darkness of the tower, Link squinted at the sun. The magical ceiling of old Hyrule churned slowly, like inside-out waves.

Link's thoughts did not run wildly as he climbed like they had done times in the past. He was not going to run. He was not going to back down. He had saved Aryll.

And now he was going to save Tetra, and the great sea, from the evils this man had caused.

And it was his choice to fight. It was his choice to be the goddesses' hero.

The wind seemed to sing a quiet melody, fading as he crested the top of the stairs.

Ganondorf stood at the other edge of the tower, gazing out at Hyrule castle. His gaze did not shift when Link's footsteps clapped against the stone. Tetra lay sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

Link clenched the master sword tight, and also took his shield from his satchel. He readied for battle.

"My country lay within a vast desert," Ganondorf said.

Link cautiously lowered his shield.

"When the sun rose into the sky," Ganondorf continued, "a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes."

Ganondorf remained still, as if he were merely a monument to that far-away time.

"No matter when it came," he said, "the wind carried the same thing. Death."

This wasn't like his first encounter with Ganondorf. Link felt that he was being misled in some way.

"But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin."

He was silent for a moment.

"I... I coveted that wind, I suppose."

He made a slight glance towards Link, then down at Tetra, the descended Hylian princess.

"It can only be called fate," he said, "that here, overlooking that land, I would again gather the three with the crests. That I should lay my hand on that which grants the desire of the beholder... that when power, wisdom, and courage come together, the goddesses would have no choice but to come down..."

Ganondorf directed his gaze towards the surface, holding his open palms before him.

"the power of the goddesses... the Triforce. Whoever touches it, will have their desire made manifest. Already, the crest of wisdom is mine. All that remains..."

Ganondorf's large hulking figure turned towards Link, his shrouding black cloak flowing in the breeze.

Link connected his vision with Ganondorf's. The hero of winds furrowed his brow. The emblem of Farore cast golden light from the back of his hand.

Ganondorf travelled rapidly across the tower with inhuman movement, sliding across as though it was ice. Link endured a fierce strike from Ganondorf's fist across his shield. While he staggered back, Ganondorf struck the master sword, causing it to fly from Link's hand and clatter along the stones.

Then Ganondorf struck again in Link's chest. Link's face scraped painfully against the ground, reeling from the strength of the Gerudo king's blows.

Link made hoarse, ragged breaths. He barely managed to roll onto his side, seeing Ganondorf looking down at him.

"You fear death," Ganondorf said. "A youthful fear. Though all mortal men seem youthful to me. I will not kill you. Whatever Farore saw in you is of no use to me. I simply desire the strength that she gave to you."

"By fletching Gerudo you will," Link retorted.

Ganondorf clamped his fingers around Link's wrist, and lifted him into the air like he was merely a plaything.

"You forget who you speak to boy," Ganondorf said. "And I'd advise you to be less foolish, unless you would like to exhale blood."

Ganondorf clenched his teeth in a wicked smile.

"Now," he proclaimed, "let us put an end to that which binds us together!"

Link felt his hand burning with energy. He felt a struggle, in his body, mind, and very soul to retain the courage that Farore had given to him. It was being dragged away by a dark malicious force. The struggle only weakened him further, and he fought to keep himself from joining Tetra in unconsciousness.

He saw the triforce of courage leave his hand. As it left him, it rang softly and continuously, like a gigantic bell. He heard the sound echo from Tetra, and finally, the wielder of the triforce of power raised his own fist into the air, issuing the emblem of Din.

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The three golden emblems shot into the air high above them, and connected. Another bell toll bellowed across the ancient land, and a bright light shone all around it.

The Triforce. In its purest state, the power, wisdom, and courage of the goddesses, made physically manifest.

As Link beheld its majesty, he was cast down to the ground again. He landed slightly better than the first time, watching wearily as Ganondorf walked to the center of the tower. The Triforce slowly descended, until it hung in the air directly in front of him.

"Goddesses!" He exclaimed, his eyes directed upward, "hear that which I desire! Expose this land to the rays of the sun once more! Let them burn forth! Give this once great land to its rightful conqueror!"

Ganondorf stretched forth his hand. But he was robbed of his desire.

For standing in front of him, with his palm placed firmly on the Triforce, was King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

"He who touches it will have what he desires granted," King Daphnes said. "Is that not what you said Ganondorf?"

The once invincible ancient thief had watched, as his long sought for treasure had been stolen.

Ganondorf shook.

"Din, Nayru, Farore!" the King cried forth, "Hear that which I desire!"

He gripped the beveled edge of the triforce of courage.

"I desire hope for these two youth, and for all of the remnant of Hyrule! Give them a future! Wash away this ancient land and the iniquity that remains in it! Let the Hylian people have a future unshackled from the errors of the past!"

A final bell toll rang across the buried kingdom of Hyrule, and the Triforce blazed as brightly as the sun freed from the darkness of an eclipse.

"Let our destinies finally be fulfilled," King Hyrule declared. "Ganondorf, may you, and all the evil of the past be washed away forever!"

The Triforce divided into its three parts, and began rising, until they floated above the three pointed stone wings on the tower's corners.

Ganondorf contorted in fury. He began laughing quietly, and soon bellowed louder and louder, throwing his head back and nearly screaming in terrifying lunacy. He was slipping further and further into madness.

Cracks began to form in Hyrule's watery ceiling as Ganondorf lost his grip on his mind. Soon the water was cascading down in gigantic waterfalls. The spray misted onto Link's face, bringing him out of his clouded consciousness.

He slowly stood, watching as the flood, started centuries before, finally began to finish its work.

Ganondorf continued his fanatic laughter, his ancient foe staring silently at him.

"You're mad Ganondorf," the King of Hyrule said. "More than you ever have been."

The wicked King halted his crazed actions. "Mad?" he sneered, "I am mad? You have destroyed the land that you sacrificed armies to protect, all while you hid beneath your bed. You think that what you've created is a future for this world?"

Link felt a hand on his shoulder. He felt his spirits rise as he saw Tetra's face.

"You're alright!" Link exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"Sorry," she said, "the cobblestones are just oh so comfortable."

Link managed to smile.

"I believe this is yours," she said, handing him the master sword.

They watched the two enemies exchange words.

Tetra examined the collapsing land, watching as pounding waves finally reached the gleaming castle, destroying it instantly.

"I've just about decided," she said over the roaring water, "that I don't really want to be in this place anymore."

"I second that," Link said.

"I think I agree with King Hyrule," she said, "while I pretended to be unconscious, he said that our future wasn't here."

Link watched the green prairie of the land get swallowed up by the unstoppable flood.

"Well," he said, "it definitely isn't now."

He heard Ganondorf stop mid-sentence while speaking to the King.

"You believe you have a future in those weak, tiny islands scattered across the sea?"

He slowly turned around, scowling at Link and Tetra.

"I have a future led by the goddesses," Link said, "not led by a man who will enslave this ancient land and its people."

"I would've been the liberator of this land!" Ganondorf yelled. "I would've finally been able to repay for the choices I have spent a thousand years regretting! And yet you defend your twisted goddesses!"

He bellowed with his insane laughter once more.

"And they were the ones who destroyed your future! They left you to die on these feeble islands, letting the once great Hylian race become chaff in the wind."

He roared with the growl of rolling thunder, his anger reaching its peak.

"Generations of Hylian kings have done worse than I, destroying their people in bloody civil wars. And now the goddesses have denied me of remaking the land anew."

"You really think," Tetra said, " that the goddesses would choose you, of all people, to pilot Hyrule's future?"

"I have lost the ancient land," Ganondorf said, "but the future is still something I can change."

A fierce metallic scraping sound rang as two long swords appeared in Ganondorf's hands.

"And the future I see for you two," he said as he stalked slowly towards them, "is lying dead and bloody on this tower."

Link connected his blade with Ganondorf's.

In that strike, he felt the man's rage, evil, and lost hope in a single moment.

The battle for the future had begun.