Between Dusk and Dawn - Chapter 14

Rescued

The witch was impatiently waiting on the other side of the Gate of Twilight, waiting for the hero she had sent to come back.

It wasn't very common of Cia to be impatient, though she did have a few reasons that put her in this state, with the first being the fact that even when though she held so much power, she couldn't go or see beyond the Gate, the only option available to her were to send telepathic messages to Link and hope that he would react, or somehow answer, which was impossible as you needed a certain level of magical control to be able to communicate through minds, something the hero of light didn't have.

Speaking of skilled mages, Ghirahim should be contacting her in a few moments to tell her how the opposing army is faring.

Supposedly, Cia would already be aware of what was going on if it wasn't for the fact that fate had taken a turn into an unknown path that even she couldn't visualize, and the sorceress was sure that it was Lana's doing, her counterpart of light. She hadn't found how she had managed to change fate in such a way, if she had gone to do a drastic change somewhere in Hyrule or if it had been something incredibly small.

She'd find out, eventually.

A voice the dark sorceress disliked very much echoed in her mind.

'Dearest Cia, it seems like what was supposed to happen did happen, just like you foretold. However...'

As expected, another element had changed. She was hoping that it was just her own Link being on the battlefield.

'...A man appeared out of nowhere and is now supporting the enemy troops. It seems to be a sheikah that uses powerful, although not very refined magics.' The demon speaking continued.

"The one the Hero of Light had to fight in Zelda's room." Cia murmured to herself.

'Aside from that, Hyrule's Army has been ambushed just like planned and is now advancing toward Wizzro who has the bigger monsters ready to attack.'

The witch didn't bother answering, too preoccupied with her own thoughts now. Wizzro would now have to face not only Impa and her soldiers, but the combined might of her own rising hero and this new sheikah threat. It was certain that the evil wizard wouldn't be able to stall for time for very long, meaning that she should already be on the way to open the last gate with Ghirahim.

Unfortunately, her strongest ally hadn't come back yet, which was quite the problem as she now seriously needed his power on the battlefield.

With the new sheikah threat and her own rising hero, she needed someone that would even the odds, just as it was supposed to be. The closer history was to what it was supposed to be, the easier it'll be for her to collect the triforce.

With his system pumped with adrenaline, the wolf rushed as fast as he could toward the fallen imp's location.

Zant's gigantic foot was descending faster than Link had expected, the madman's grin becoming wider with each passing moment.

So with a final push, the wolf pushed harder than before, managing to grab Midna's ponytail with his mouth and pull her away from the danger zone, a millisecond before Zant's foot landed, raising a lot of dust around it.

Link used his sharpened senses to navigate through the dust and look for a place to hide but unfortunately, there was no such thing. It meant that Zant would realize soon enough that he hadn't killed Midna, and that the wolf was here.

Speaking of the twilight princess, she hadn't quite realized what had happened as she had closed her eyes, expecting to get crushed.

"W-what in the..."

The imp didn't even have time to finish that Link forcefully moved her on his back. It took her a second to realize that she was alive thanks to what she was currently mounting.

"You... look like a creature from the light realm but... Impossible, you couldn't be a demon, then why would you help-"

A scream of rage interrupted the princess' monologue, Zant had turned in the direction of the duo and was fuming.

"Why aren't you dead?! Why, why, why?!" He shouted, stomping his foot multiple times on the ground, making the castle shake.

The mad king raised his fist and attempted to smash Midna and Link, but the wolf skillfully avoided the attack, making Zant's arm go through the ground. It looked like he had a hard time pulling it out.

The twilight princess immediately leaned herself toward her mount's ears. "Listen dark... wolf thing, whatever you are, think you can get me close enough to his face so that I can punch him back?"

Link didn't even bother to nod, he immediately climbed on top of the buried arm and rushed to the shoulder part.

"Nice job pup, now it's payback time!" The imp reeled her magical hair fist back before throwing it full force at the mad king that wasn't paying attention to the tingling sensation traveling on his arm.

Shouting in pain, Zant finally pulled his arm free and staggered back from the shock, while Link jumped down from the giant's shoulder.

"Youuuuu...!"

"What's the matter, oh mighty Twilight King, it couldn't be that you're afraid of a small bug like me?" Midna provoked with a grin.

Screaming in anger, Zant's form grew even more. "I'm going to kill you!"

"You told me this twice already and look, I'm still alive and well."

"RAAAARGH!"

Link wished he could make Midna stop taunting their enemy, although it could be against certain opponents, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea against a powerful magician like Zant.

...Though to be honest, it looked more like a giant child throwing a tantrum in the hero's eyes than a powerful magician right now.

"Alright wolfy, the moment he raises one of his feet, I want you to run in a straight line toward Zant, I'll do the rest."

Link nodded in answer.

Zant started attacking again, smashing the ground with his fists multiple time, Link dodged them every time, making the mad king even madder than before.

"Die already!"

Once again, he started to raise his giant foot, finally presenting Link his opportunity, he ran full speed forward, wondering what Midna had in mind.

Just as the foot started to descend, the imp launched her magical hair at the mad king's ankle and successfully grabbed it.

"Wh- What are you-?!"

Gripping Zant's ankle tightly, the imp pulled with all of her strength the moment Link was behind Zant, making the fake king fall forward, on his belly.

Now was the perfect opportunity for Midna to deal the finishing blow, with Zant being enraged and the surprise the fall should have given, he was bound to be defenseless.

She retracted her hair from Zant's ankle, although not completely as her magical hair now was above the mad king's lying back, deployed like a claw. Mustering what little magic she had after being cursed, indulging her hair with what looked like dark electricity.

And without warning, the claw plunged straight through Zant's back, through his heart.

The mad king's final, bloodcurdling scream resonated through the entire Twilight Palace.

This was neither a proud death nor a proud victory, but that didn't matter to the twilight princess, she knew full well that she had no chances of winning by fighting in this cursed form, and the curse wouldn't go away without Zant's death.

Without an army, without anyone to side with her, and without any hope, Midna had decided to go fight him directly.

She wouldn't run away, she had to bear her responsibility as the ruler of her people, she would fight, knowing that there was an extremely slim chance of her winning if he let his guard down.

Unfortunately, the moment she had seen him on her throne, her emotions had gotten the best of her.

If it wasn't for the dark wolf, she would've died very quickly.

She unmounted the wolf.

Zant's body started to dissipate and at the same time, Midna's body was covered in light.

The curse was broken, the princess was safe.

Link had fulfilled his duty here and headed toward the mirror.

"Wait." Midna called out with a voice more mature than before. "What... No, who are you? Why did you save me?"

The wolf turned around slightly, enough for him to face the true form of the twilight princess.

Midna's eyes locked with his, and for a second there, she had the impression that it wasn't a wolf in front of her, but a young man giving her a smile.

The wolf turned back and jumped in the mirror, disappearing from her sights, leaving the princess confused.

For sure though, she wouldn't forget the help from the black wolf with blue eyes.

"Thank you."

The wolf came out from the mirror, surprising Cia.

"So you did transform into the sacred beast, although it is not quite the same appearance." The witch commented, "We don't have much time, so I'm not going to ask why it took you so long."

Cia waited for Link to transform back into himself before creating a dark portal under themselves.

"For the next mission, you will be working with Wizzro, you'll have to stall the opposing army's advance until I tell you to retreat with Wizzro. Volga will be preparing his troops for the next battlefield, while me and Ghirahim will take care of the last gate." She briefly explained.

The hero of light nodded.

"Well then." The witch said, activating her portal and teleporting both of them into what seemed to be a large forest. They appeared on a very big branch, right next to a large amount of bublins. Link took out his bow and almost drew a magical arrow by reaction but stopped himself, remembering that he was siding with them. "Follow this path and you will meet up with Wizzro quickly, he'll tell you more about this soon-to-be battlefield."

After saying this, Cia immediately disappeared into another portal, leaving Link alone.

The hero of light headed where Wizzro was, unsure of what awaited him in this next battle.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to hurt too many people.