The Legend Of Zelda: The Curse Of Zant

Chapter 29; Blood and Battle

Link stood tall with his shield raised and the Master Sword at the ready. His eyes were locked on Zant, who was standing a few feet in front of him, staring back at him. To their right, Midna stood by the entrance. Due to Zant's rules, she was unable to aid Link, or interfere in the fight at all. The only thing she could do was stand by and keep a watchful eye on Zelda's condition to ensure that time wasn't wearing thin. Her skin had already paled, and Midna knew that in just a few short hours it would take on a grey tint and only minutes later, her heart would stop beating. She shook the thought from her mind when her eyes caught Link's as he looked back at her for signs of reassurance. She nodded and gave him a small smile, and he turned back to Zant.

"Are you prepared to fight?" Zant questioned.

"Beyond." Link smirked. "Bring it!"

Link shifted his stance, placing his feet apart and squaring his shoulders. He kept his shield raised despite the stillness of Zant. The Usurper King clapped his hands together as an eerie grin spread across his face. Midna's eyes widened as the realization of what he was doing dawned on her. Link should know too, since it was nothing dissimilar to his actions when they'd faced him the first time around.

Zant stopped clapping suddenly, and then he laughed, jumping up and down like an excited child being promised ice cream. He soon stopped that as well, and Link rolled his eyes at the child-like behaviour. Having done all that, Zant dropped his arms by his side and produced two knives from his baggy sleeves, and without warning he started spinning rapidly towards Link.

With his shield raised, he jutted it forward as Zant neared him, causing the Usurper King to crash into it and stagger backwards. Link raised his sword and made his first attack, but as the sword clashed with the stone ground, sparks from the sword flew. He gasped, realizing that Zant had disappeared and searching the room frantically, just waiting for him to reappear.

Zant materialized behind Link, and used the opportunity to perform an attack; with his back turned, the Usurper King made a vertical slash at his back. Link gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain. He could feel warm, sticky blood trickling down his back, but didn't stop to check. He spun around before Zant could teleport again and made a stab with his sword, plunging it into Zant's arm. The Usurper King cried out before vanishing from sight once again.

Link turned once more, unwilling to make the same mistake a second time, just as Zant materialized. This time, the Usurper King had grown in size, and towered over Link. He levitated in the air, the ribbons attached to his sleeves grazing the ground, and the silver helmet with intricate engravings now hiding his face. Link whipped out his bow and quickly shot an arrow at Zant that stabbed his leg. He let out a high pitched shriek, grabbing hold of his injured leg and whimpering as he struggled to dig the arrow out. Using the opportunity, Link put another arrow to his bow and this time aimed it at the metal helmet, hoping to damage it enough to break it and expose his cat-like face.

The arrow flew and struck its target, creating a small crack in the top of the helmet, also dizzying Zant in the process, causing him to shrink back to his usual size. Gripping the Master Sword tightly, Link hacked away at Zant as much as he could until the Usurper King vanished before his eyes. He reappeared in seconds, standing a short distance away and laughed his maniacal laugh before clapping his hands together even more rapidly than the first time. The knives reappeared from his sleeves and started to spin, moving forward.

Link rolled out of the way and jumped back to his feet, spinning around and performing a horizontal slash on Zant, creating a flesh wound on his arm. The Usurper King screeched and flung both his arms without care for his surroundings. Red and black particles swirled behind him, forming a sinister looking Twili wall.