Return to Termina

With a loud snarl, Link began the battle between wolf and dragon. He tackled Goldra, but the humanoid dragon pulled Link off and punched him across the face. Link recovered from the blow and went for Goldra again, but Goldra took flight and kicked Link in the chin. The dark lord then kneed Link in the midsection. While he was recoiling in pain, Goldra seized a handful of Link's fur and tossed him into the ebony wall, but Link wasn’t down for long. Link dove for Goldra and the dragon took flight. However, Link leapt upwards and grabbed Goldra by the feet. Goldra’s weight, combined with Link’s, forced him to fall to the ground with a crash.

Kafei wanted to do something, but he couldn’t. He was a mere man while Link and Goldra were two beasts that were beyond his skill. All he could do was wait on the sidelines for Link to kill Goldra and Zelda to arrive with the ocarina.

Goldra rose from the ground in his human form, but even after getting pummeled by Link, he wasn’t even badly injured. Any injury that Link inflicted had healed up in seconds, but Link had an equal advantage.

He smirked and said, “You can’t possibly think you can defeat me, Link. My powers are too great for you. And by the way, you don't have much longer...”

Goldra was right. The curse would envelop Link at midnight, but now it was only a few minutes from that time. Link heaved himself off the floor and scowled at Goldra, the expression still alive in his wolfish face. With a roar, he galloped at Goldra at top speed. The dark one resumed his dragon form and took to the wing where he hoped he would be out of Link's range, but the werewolf was cleverer than he thought and jumped on a wall. He seized Goldra by the foot, but Goldra spun in midair and whipped Link across the face with his tail. It was enough to shed blood and the cut healed over in a second, but this was enough to make Link release him. Link leapt onto the next wall, ready to meet Goldra and seized him by the tail. He swung Goldra in an arc and smashed him into the opposite wall. He then got onto Goldra’s back and the dragon-like dark lord tried to shake Link off in midair. However, Link's grip was true and he took the massive wings and began squeezing until a wing gave an unpleasant crunch and Goldra, a pained screech. That wasn’t all Link did. In fact, Link took the already-damaged wing and began to twist it in many agonizing ways, maximizing the damage. Goldra screamed as Link twisted his wing in half. The wing membranes ripped like paper and the wing's remnant fell to the floor like a poorly-made paper airplane.

Goldra spiraled to the ground and Link hopped off at the last second. Goldra took his tail and swung it at Link, but Link’s wolf instincts were too quick and he grabbed it. With a jerk, he pulled Goldra right into an uppercut that flung him through the ceiling. Rain pelted Goldra's scales until he resumed his true form and looked down through the hole. Link glared back up at him, then took his claws and sharpened them on the stone wall, leaving a trail of sparks. Link then showed off his claws, which now had a bladelike glint in them, and Goldra soon found that he was in SERIOUS trouble.


Zelda was riding on the raven and saw Goldra smash through the ceiling. She knew that a battle deciding the fate of Termina was going on in there. She continued to fly and saw Link leap up after Goldra. She knew there wasn’t much time and tried to make the raven go faster. Suddenly, a batlike creature came in and attacked the raven. It looked like a bat, but it had pink, hairless skin, dagger-like teeth, and a pair of white, bulbous eyes. It looked like a cross between a bat and a naked mole rat and the stench was almost enough to make Zelda's nose bleed.

"What is THAT?" She asked to no one in particular.

The creature sank a pair of teeth into the raven’s leg and the bird swayed a bit, but Zelda remained balanced. She took out her dagger and the next time the bat came close, she pierced it with the knife. The creature squealed in surprise and forgot about the bird. The next time it came around, it flew over the bird instead of at it and narrowly missed Zelda with its eagle-like talons. Zelda had a bit of trouble on her hands. She had to keep one hand on the bird’s head in order to maintain control, while her other hand had to keep the bat at bay. Whoever was the victor would decide EVERYTHING.


Goldra turned back into the dragon and landed a solid blow across Link’s face with a backhand, but that only seemed to make Link madder. Goldra tried to jump away, but Link grabbed him by the leg, spun him around, and sunk his claws into Goldra’s throat. Goldra was gasping for breath, each breath getting lighter and lighter, all the while Link was roaring in what could only be described as primal fury. Time was short: only about three or five minutes, but suddenly Goldra's breath returned to normal. A cloud had moved in front of the full moon and Link changed back into a Hylian. Link released Goldra's throat and took this time to get away from Goldra before he got slaughtered. He jumped back through the hole in the roof as Goldra returned to his human form.

Goldra touched the claw marks on his neck and licked the blood. After a few seconds, the wounds healed over and he grinned. THIS grin was different; there was something reptilian in it and he looked more like a demon than a human.

“Just a scratch. Guess you’re not the famed ‘Hero of time’ after all.” Goldra jeered down at Link.

He jumped down to about ten feet from Link and began walking towards him. Each step made Link's beastly instincts want to act up faster. There was only two minutes until midnight.

“I can give your life back to you, Link. Just spit on that mark on your hand and I’ll set you free.” Goldra tried to bargain.

“And give up everything I've fought to protect?” Link asked in anger, "Sorry. I'm afraid that can't happen!"

Link lurched forward as the cloud shifted again, then the wolf's glint appeared in his eyes. Goldra saw it and transformed to jump away...half a second too slow. Link dove forward and smashed into Goldra, turned into the werewolf, and before Goldra could even react, Link sank his two-inch fangs into Goldra’s shoulder.

Goldra writhed in pain and screamed as he had never screamed before. Where there should have been blood now, there was a purplish-black gunk. He tried to clean it off him, but when he realized his wound wasn't healing over, he glared at Link and let out a final scream in hatred and fury before he turned into a fossilized, half-reptilian skeleton.


Outside the fortress, the entire army had fallen to its knees and dissolved into mist when Goldra died. The bat-winged rat that was attacking Zelda exploded into purple ooze, eerily similar to a certain bug that Zelda defeated a while ago. Zelda then realized that the raven was one of Goldra’s creations and it too dissolved. Luckily for Zelda, she was right above the castle where Link was. She gracefully landed on her feet and found herself right in front of Kafei.

“The army’s dying! Link’s won!” She said excitedly.

“Yes, but now comes the most dangerous part.” Kafei warned, "And we've only got thirty seconds left!"

Zelda looked at Link with suddenness and ran over to the spot Link killed Goldra. Link was standing there in front of Goldra’s skeleton, while staring into space. Zelda didn’t have any time to lose. She quickly put the ocarina to her lips and began playing the song of healing. Unfortunately, Link heard her begin and wasted no time in trying something to stop her. He reached her in two or three bounds, reared up, grabbed Zelda by the throat, and began choking her. The ocarina slid across the floor and Kafei arrived just at the stares. Zelda was gasping for breath and coughing madly as she tried to reach Link in his mind. But she couldn't utter the words to save her life or to reach him. Link then heard something over the coughing and gagging. Link saw Kafei playing the song and dropped Zelda immediately. He had just reared up to his full height when Kafei played the last tune, and with only one second left on the clock.

Link froze in his tracks as immense pain flowed through his body. He dropped to the floor and clutched his skull like a loud noise was ringing in his ears. His wolf's skin began bubbling like hot wax and it melted off to reveal the snake that fought the Gerudo pirates. The skin's remains collected on the floor and hardened into a mask that looked like a wolf's head.

The snake’s skin turned the color of white chalk and it started to rip it off like clothes that wouldn't fit. The flakes then took the form of a mask that looked like a coiled snake.

The skin underneath was the bumpy hide and bony plates of the crocodile. The scales came off bit-by-bit and fell in the arrangement of a mask that looked like a crocodile’s head.

The fierce tiger appeared, let out a roar, and the fur that covered its body shed. It too turned into a mask and revealed the giant bear. The bear’s skin appeared to come off like wet paper and revealed the werewolf again. The werewolf let out one final howl before a light came from the moon and Link was back as a Hylian. Link remained on his feet for a few seconds, then fell to the floor with a thud. Zelda and Kafei ran over to Link to inspect him; he was still alive. He had won, well they ALL won, and Termina was saved again.

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